A large can of mackerel from Poland contains two fillets and costs only about $2.
By Magdalena I. García
Did you ever learn to do the “Macarena”? It’s a Spanish song about a woman of the same name. It was originally recorded by Los del Rio, two brothers from Southern Spain who were hardly known outside their country until the mid 1990s when, out of the blue, this song set a new record by staying at the top of music charts for weeks and weeks (read about it at:
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2402). But “Macarena” is more than a song; it is a wonderful group dance that captivated audiences of all ages. It is still a favorite at block parties and wedding receptions. And it’s good for cardiovascular health, just like its cousin, the mackerel.
A few years ago, when we started eating more fish in order to get my husband’s cholesterol level under control, we read all about Omega-3 fatty acids. According to the American Heart Association, “fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, herring, lake trout, sardines and albacore tuna are high in two kinds of omega-3 fatty acids … which have demonstrated benefits at reducing heart disease.” You can read more about this by visiting the American Heart Association page online: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4632.
Well, we knew about salmon, trout, sardines, and tuna, but mackerel and herring were not on our culinary radar. So we started looking around, and we found them: fresh, smoked and canned. They are readily available at international markets that sell imported products. Poland, for example, is a big exporter of mackerel. And since we did not know what the fish was called in Spanish, sometimes we would jokingly call it “Macarena.” We eventually looked up “mackerel” in an English-Spanish dictionary and learned it’s called “caballa.” This literally means “female horse”, although horse in Spanish is “caballo” for the male and “yegua” for the female, so go figure.
Anyway, if you’re looking for ways to reduce cholesterol and increase your intake of Omega-3 fatty acids with food instead of pills, we highly recommend mackerel. You can eat it with crackers, rice, pita, bread or pasta. It has a distinctive flavor that is not too fishy, and leaves no bad after taste. Huh…I wonder if the little boy who shared his lunch with Jesus and the disciples had mackerel in his lunch sack?! One thing is for sure: he did not have a recording of Los del Rio. But you can do the “Macarena” as you munch; it can only improve your cardiovascular health.
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