I enjoy a good meal comprised of fish, whether it is broiled, grilled, baked or fried; and I like to consume many kinds of fish: salmon, flounder, mahi mahi, tuna, fluke to name a few — and I partook in a delicious dinner of hake when I was in Dublin…
…but there is one particular type of fish about which I had never heard: escolar.
I already passed on the possibility that you might find living parasites in your sushi and to especially be wary of eating spicy tuna sushi; and now you should be aware of the potential risk of eating escolar.
A New Years Trip To Beautiful Puerto Diarrhea is the headline for an article by Mikel Bowman of ThreadTripping, which highlights this trip report to Puerto Vallarta as recalled by FlyerTalk member dieuwer2 that did not exactly go as planned.
After eating what was thought as tuna for dinner, the stomach of dieuwer2 started “feeling funny” the next morning; and then “Later that evening, I got stomach cramps but still wanted to go out. Went to La Noche around 11 pm, but could not sit still due to the increasing pain. Finally decided to go back to the hotel and lie down. The next morning, I woke up, smelly, and found out that my intestines had decided to completely flush out. OMG! Ripped all sheets from the bed, called room services, and started cleaning the mess myself. It took two more days for my body to settle and feel better again. Suffice to say I refused to eat at the hotel any longer.”
FlyerTalk member frankmu offered the possibility that dieuwer2 actually ate escolar — as well as provided a link to this article written by Kathryn Hill of The Kitchn, which offers this explanation that you might consider to contain too much information which I highlighted below in dark red:
Escolar is a type of snake mackerel that cannot metabolize the wax esters naturally found in its diet. These esters are called gempylotoxin, and are very similar to castor or mineral oil. This is what gives the flesh of escolar its oily texture. As a result, when full portions of escolar are consumed, these wax esters cause gastrointestinal symptoms.
To be frankly and bluntly specific — and I’m sorry for this — consumption of escolar causes explosive, oily, orange diarrhea. People have reported that the discharges are often difficult to control and accidents can happen while passing gas. I personally know someone who ate an escolar steak one night, unaware of its side effects. The next day he was riding the elevator to his office when out of nowhere his bowels unleashed a surprise attack on his pants. As he said later, “Thank God I had my gym bag with me, which had a clean pair of underwear in it.” This explains why escolar is also called the “olestra fish” and the “ex-lax fish.”
The article further warns that “In spite of all this, escolar is indeed very buttery and delicious, and should be enjoyed, but never in portions larger than six ounces.”
Wow. That blows…
