lobster

McDonald’s, one of America’s largest buyers of fish, announced this week that all ‘Fillet O’Fish’ sandwiches and new ‘Fish McBites’ will be made from MSC-certified Pacific pollock. While McDonald’s is still far from being a model of responsible food practices, there’s no denying the huge impact large corporations can have on creating a more sustainable food system. When mega-chains respond to consumer demand for sustainable choices, it’s a step in the right direction.

We’re reminded of our friend Taylor Mork, founder of Crop to Cup, who wants his fair trade, farmer-direct coffee beans to reach a broader audience on the shelves of Wal-Mart. Sustainability has to be scalable if we want to really make change. We think family-owned sustainable fisheries can grow their reach without compromising their values of community, quality, and integrity.

Rhode Island native Noah Clark started cutting fish in 1965 to pay his way through college to become a music teacher. Eventually his side gig was so successful that he opened his own fillet shop buying fish off the boats of local Point Judith fishermen. Fifteen years later, Clark opened a larger fish house in Point Judith. His modest beginnings as a music teacher behind him, he still kept a piano in his office that he played every day as business continued to grow. Today, Clark’s sons run things, sending squid direct from Rhode Island fishermen across the country, while Noah still goes out fishing. Squid is to Rhode Island what lobster is to Maine, and the fast-growing longfin Atlantic squid are healthy and abundant. And, as many chefs will attest, Rhode Island squid makes a mighty fine calamari.

What McDonald's forgot to say is that they have actually been exclusively using MSC certified pollock in the US for the past ten years. Our hope is that sustainable seafood becomes the norm, and not the exception; it should be a given. As we all move towards that goal, our job is to find bigger and better markets for the catch of family fishermen.

A new Consumer Reports investigation of pork found that a whopping 69% of tested meat contained one or more potentially harmful bacteria, some of which showed signs of antibiotic resistance. The overwhelming majority of the bacteria found in the samples was resistant to at least one form of antibiotic - ranging from 63% of the Enterococcus to 93% of the Staphylococcus aureus. The same frightening issues that plague industrial meat production also plague aquaculture.

90% of all shrimp consumed in the US comes from outside the US, and most imported shrimp is grown in filth ponds flooded with antibiotics. Unless you are extremely vigilant, the shrimp your guests ingest is likely to be antibiotic-infused. Your guests deserve better.

Whether talking about pastured pork, heirloom squash, or farmstead cheese, good chefs make good product sing. Wild Florida White Shrimp are animals with amazing flavor and meaty texture that only comes from shrimp being allowed to live like shrimp: wild and free. You can't farm that.

Our partners, the Wood family, have been in the shrimping business since 1860 and are the second largest employer in Port St. Joe, FL after the school district. On our last visit to Wood's Fisheries, Ed Wood spoke about the difference between farmed and wild shrimp. "If I'm going to bring shrimp home with me for dinner, I always pick the bag of wild shrimp. There's just no comparing the taste between farmed and wild shrimp -- and I even own a shrimp farm." Wild shrimp get their flavor from what they eat, and the unique ecosystem of a wild shrimp's habitat influences its flavor. Wood’s Reese Antley even claims that he can taste a difference in the flavor of a shrimp depending on the depth of ocean it lived in- the deeper the water, the sweeter the shrimp. Like wine, oysters, or cheese, wild shrimp have terroir, and just as you wouldn't assume a bottle of Two Buck Chuck to have the flavor profile of an aged Burgundy, you can't assume farmed shrimp to match the flavor of wild. Wild shrimp just tastes better.

Mainers really love lobstah and so do we. This year, we partnered with Portland Captain Curt Brown of the F/V Lil More Tail to put up a limited lobster program of beautiful 6-8oz tails and picked knuckle and claw meat. Brown, who has been fishing commercially since he was 15, harvests these hard shells from rocky bottoms in frigid waters off the coast of Maine. The cold water and rough terrain come together to produce strong lobsters that are full of sweet succulent meat. Roast them, grill them, poach them, throw them in the oven covered in ritz crackers and butter and eat them in the privacy of your living room. We won't judge; just don't miss them.

As our worlds get smaller the impact that we have on one another grows. Chefs have the power to support independent producers, preserve traditional communities and protect amazing product. Choices made by a chef in Minneapolis, Dallas or DC has a direct effect on a fisherman in Portland, Port St. Joe or Sitka. Let's keep our fishermen out on the water for you.

Memorial Day marks the start of the summer season, and fish everywhere are jumping.

Alaska salmon season began last week with an unexpectedly strong run of sockeye at the Cooper River, driving prices down to $10/lb in the first week. We will be landing sockeye next in Prince William Sound, then in Cook Inlet and finally in Bristol Bay by the end of June.

Gulf of Mexico fishing continues strong with red snapper and grouper, mackerel and mullet. Off the Carolinas, greenstick boats are landing yellowfin tuna and swordfish, before they begin to migrate north. A wide variety of species are finding their way to the dock in Montauk, NY and Point Judith, RI, while monkfish and scallops are landing multiple times per week in New Bedford, MA. From Portland, ME lobster pricing is beginning to back down, and the harpoon fishermen are anxious for the swordfish to return.

A NY Times article this week discussed the value of eco-labels. Although well-intended they often do not reflect the latest science, and without helping the fish stocks, harm the traditional communities the fish support. A recent study found that many of the species certified were in fact over-fished, and expressed “growing concern among scientists about the effectiveness of seafood eco-labeling”. 

ABC World News tested imported farmed shrimp from Asia, with disturbing findings. Three different banned antibiotics were found in the shrimp: enrofloxacin, an antibiotic banned in animals that Americans eat because it damages the immune system; chloramphenicol, suspected to cause cancer in humans; and carcinogen nitrofuranzone, which was banned in the U.S. 40 years ago. The Alaska Dispatch cites rampant slavery and human trafficking issues in the Asian seafood industry. A Louisiana seafood processor was charged in federal court in New Orleans last week with mislabeling shrimp. With over 90% of all shrimp consumed in the US imported, people are eating some bad shrimp.

The key to the right seafood is traceability. Know where your seafood came from.

Portland, Maine is a progressive small city with a vibrant food scene and a rich history as one of the great New England fishing ports. As the hub of the Gulf of Maine fishery, she is the home to a spirited group of fishermen harvesting a cornucopia of seafood from ground fish to those famous Maine Lobsters. Michael visited there last week, and talked of a working wharf of fishermen who, despite many challenges and dangerous hard work, see a bright future.

Michael was on the dock for Thursday’s dawn unloading of the F/V Jennifer K. with a bountiful catch of Saithe, or Atlantic Pollock. Saithe populations are abundant, 115% above targeted biomass levels, yet only 26% of the allowable catch was harvested in 2010. Saithe have a slightly darker color than other whitefish, are higher in unsaturated fat content, and are denser and hold together better in culinary preparations. This underutilized species is available year round, and we are able to deliver skin-off fillet next day from the dock to your kitchen for $5.90/lb. Saithe is a winner for your menu.

Speaking of Maine’s most famous crustacean, we are now working with the Ready brothers, Brendan and John, who in addition to working their own lobster traps have built a modern facility in Portland landing lobster from all up the Maine coast. They identify each lot by the boat, captain, and trap location, and pack and ship the feisty creatures the day of landing. Until you have tasted it, the difference between lobsters that have spent weeks in a tank and those right out of the cold Gulf of Maine waters is extraordinary. Every chef that has worked with these is impressed.

We all know that chefs are a feisty bunch, looking to express themselves in every way they can. "Cooking is an art and tattoos are another form of art," according to our friend Stephanie Izard of Chicago's Girl and the Goat. "It's an accessory. You can't wear jewelry in the kitchen, but you can wear tattoos,” says Izard. “People come into our restaurant and say `Do you only hire line chefs with tattoos?' No, we just happen to have a lot of them covered in them."

Although fatty fish are rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, in recent years the government has warned pregnant women to restrict their intake to avoid exposure to high levels of mercury. But researchers at the Harvard School of Medicine have found a diet high in omega-3 outweigh risks posed by environmental pollution. Pregnant women who ate more than the recommended two servings of fish a week had preschool children who performed better on verbal, visual and motor skills tests than their peers.

There are big happenings in the Dimin family as Sean and Bethany will be making Michael and I grandparents for the first time in late September (it’s a boy!). Yesterday’s baby shower was treated to magnificent day-boat Yellowfin Tuna, Swordfish, and Scallops from Montauk, as well as Gulf White Shrimp from Port St Joe, FL. Everyone had a wonderful time, and we are going to have one real smart baby.

Last week the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council instituted annual catch limits for dozens of species including King Mackerel, Spanish Mackerel, Grouper, Wahoo and Mahi. The decision was hailed for being proactive in setting limits for fish species before they are in trouble. In the past, authorities had no standing catch limits for fish populations until populations became critically low, always in reactive mode. In a region of the country that has had the most difficulty in agreeing on proper fishery management, this is good news.

On Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Doug MacCash, a reporter from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, stopped at the venerabe Zabar’s while visiting last month. Mr. MacCash discovered a fact of New York culinary life that New Yorkers had not: there was no lobster in Zabar’s lobster salad. It was made with Louisiana Crawfish. If others were troubled by what seemed like a case of misrepresentation, Saul Zabar, the 83-year-old president and co-owner of Zabar’s, was not. “If you go to Wikipedia,” he said, “you will find that crawfish in many parts of the country is referred to as lobster.” One observer commented " ‘Lobster salad’ made with crayfish is like making chicken salad with sparrow. Not quite right.”