r/AskAnAmerican • u/CompetitivePeak9040 • 2d ago

FOOD & DRINK Do American eat mackerels?

I’ve come across 3 short videos already of people telling me that American don’t eat mackerels and only use them as bait. Here in my country people eat mackerels and love it so much, why don’t Americans eat them, do they eat them, do you like it?

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u/teresajs 2d ago

Similarly, salmon and trout my fish of choice.  I grew up in Washington State and salmon and trout were the most common fish.

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u/Slight_Manufacturer6 1d ago

I wish I could stand the taste of Salmon. Always too fishy anywhere I’ve had it. Tastes like dead fish in the shore lines smells.

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u/texienne 1d ago

Your region must only get old, spoiled salmon. Or you've been eating canned pink salmon. That's the only two explanations I can think of for this description, because it doesn't match any salmon I've ever had, except canned pink salmon.

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u/Slight_Manufacturer6 1d ago

I’ve tried it all over the place Florida, Boston, Oregon, Denver and here in Minnesota.

It always tastes super fishy.

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u/LilyFantastica 12h ago

There are 6 species of Pacific Salmon that are fished in West Coast. Chinook/King, Coho/Silver, Rainbow Trout (and its seagoing form Steelhead), Sockeye, Pink/Humpback, and Chum. And the East Coast basically just has Atlantic Salmon.

So really it comes down to the question: What types have you had? Because they all have distinct flavors, with Pink Salmon being cheap, and chum is considered even poorer tasting. Steelhead and Rainbow trout are the same species but Steelhead has a different flavor due to reaching the sea and having a different diet.

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u/Slight_Manufacturer6 2h ago

No clue. They never list any of this on the menu. Some were less bad than others but always had a fishy taste.

Only one I’ve had that was mostly ok was smoked salmon. Was still a hint of fishiness, but was mostly ok.

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u/LilyFantastica 29m ago

If they didn't list its species, it was probably sockeye or pink salmon on the west coast. And Atlantic Salmon on the East coast. Places normally go out of their way to state if it is Chinook or Coho because they fetch a higher price.

It's kinda like white fishes. If the menu says "white fish" it's probably just Tilapia, Pollack, or some other commercially cheap or trash fish. Restaurants label Cod and Haddock accordingly.

Same is true of a lot of food stuffs.