Meduses, Ruscalleda i pregunta a la Comissió Europea
Fa temps que diversos chefs de reconegut prestigi, entre els quals Carme Ruscalleda, reclamen la possibilitat de poder servir meduses cuinades en els seus menús (veure l’article Fish or foul? Chef wants jellyfish on menu publicat a la BBC el passat 10 de setembre). Un dia vaig sentir que en parlava a la ràdio i com es lamentava que, actualment, no és possible fer-ho en virtut d’una Regulació de la UE segons la qual les meduses no es poden considerar ‘aliment’.
Vaig pensar que tenia tota la raó i em vaig començar a interessar pel tema. De vegades, normatives que tenen sentit en un moment determinat el perden segons com evolucionen les coses. Aquest, crec, és un d’aquests casos. Tot plegat m’ha portat a documentar-me i a demanar a la Comissió Europea, via pregunta parlamentària, de modificar aquesta trava legal per tal de permetre introduir en la cuina, catalana o no, aquesta especialitat que ja consumeixen en d’altres parts del món.
Adjunto a continuació la pregunta argumentada:
Written Question by Raül Romeva to the European Commission on The possibility of reclassifying jellyfish as foodstuff
In July of 2009, the Commission’s Directorate General responsible for environment released a news alert warning of a “huge rise in jellyfish populations around the world” due to human activities. While climate change has led to warming coastal waters that are favourable to this marine creature, overfishing has diminished stocks of the animal’s traditional predators, such as herring and sardines. The recent bloom of jellyfish, according to the DG article, poses the risk of becoming “destructive” unless early action is taken. Abundant anecdotal evidence suggests that typical beachgoers in Southern Europe have already felt the effects of this wave: in August of 2006, for example, the BBC reported that up to 30,000 holidaymakers in the Mediterraneanhad been stung by jellyfish since the summer began.
As a response to our changing marine environment, one possible response on the part of the Commission could be to reclassify jellyfish as foodstuff, a change for which numerous European chefs have been pushing. Last September, the BBC published an article about the efforts of celebrated Catalan chef Carme Ruscalleda in convincing people of the nutritional benefits of eating European species of jellyfish, which she describes as tasting “fresher” than the Asian-imported types she serves in her restaurant. Currently, what is stopping Ms. Ruscalleda from serving European varieties of jellyfish is Commission Regulation (EU) No 86/2010, adopted on 29 January 2010, which describes jellyfish as a non-fishery item.
Yet given the clear environmental benefits to serving and eating jellyfish, how does the Commission justify its current ban on jellyfish as foodstuff? Furthermore, when did the Commission first explicitly define jellyfish as a non-fishery item? After all, in Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, which Commission Regulation (EU) No 86/2010 amended, jellyfish was not listed in Appendix 1 as a non-fishery item. Why did this change occur? Finally, what, if any, measures is the Commission taking towards reclassifying local jellyfish as foodstuff?
Foto: L’espècie Cotylorhiza tuberculata, per exemple, és força abundant i no és de les més urticants. Font: BBC
Doncs sí, Raül, estic completament d’acord en els termes en els quals formules la pregunta, és un plantejament absolutament lògic i ple de sentit comú.
Si la medusa és comestible, endavant, i a més faríem un favor als nostres mars.
Cordialment!