Dishes

Phillip Foss Rebrands the Asian Carp

It's called Shanghai Bass for now.
It’s called Shanghai Bass for now. Photo: Courtesy of The Pickled Tongue

Would you order Shanghai Bass? After failing to attract Lockwood diners to the wonders of Asian Carp, even when he gives it away for free Phillip Foss reintroduced the fish as Shanghai Bass this morning on Fox & Friends. People seem to like the dish, but they don’t like to order it. So why not just change the name?

This isn’t the first time a fish has been rebranded to sound more palatable, says Foss — Chilean Sea Bass was originally called a Patagonian Toothfish. But Asian Carp’s image problem is extreme. The invasive fish quickly reproduces, has no natural predators in the area, and decimates local fish populations wherever it goes. If ValueJet can erase consumer memories of a fatal plane crash by switching its name to AirTrain, why not Shanghai Bass?

Foss is open to other suggestions, though he’s pleased with Shanghai Bass: “Sounds somewhat better than Asian carp, doesn’t it?” Honestly…yeah it does. But he’ll have to rename the Asian Carp-accio dish, which is kind of a shame.

[Fox & Friends]

Phillip Foss Rebrands the Asian Carp