HUDS Debuts ‘Catch of the Day’ Fish Program

Harvard University Dining Services has started serving fish from local vendor Red’s Best in dining halls for lunch on Fridays under a program it calls the “Catch of the Day.”

Starting in late January, Red’s Best began selling 760 pounds of fresh fish to HUDS weekly, depending on what local fishermen caught that week, at a pre-determined rather than market price, according to Crista Martin, HUDS director for marketing and communications.

Under the new program, HUDS will not know what variety of fish it will serve each coming Friday until that week, but offerings will include haddock, pollock, redfish, hake, cod, and flounder, according to Martin.

Each dining hall will receive a recipe based on the fish that it will serve each week and begin preparing the food on Thursdays, according to Ted Smith, a chef at Quincy House. HUDS served pollock on the two most recent Fridays, according to Smith.

Smith said the program aims to ensure that the fish HUDS serves is fresh. In the past, fish like flounder were usually flash frozen, according to Smith. He said feedback so far has been positive.

“I heard from a few people,” Smith said. “They were really excited about this program. The fish was excellent.”

Martin T. Breslin, director for culinary operations at HUDS who brought the program to the dining service, praised the new partnership in an email.

“I am very excited about this relationship, serving local sustainably caught seafood while supporting the local fishermen,” he wrote. “We hope that we could expand the program and have more food from Red’s Best on the menu.”

—Staff writer Kay Lu can be reached at kay.lu@thecrimson.com.