Fish counters serve a wealth of healthy, scrumptious fare
Our local seafood industry is in full swing and thriving. Fish counters today
have abundant stone crab claws, spiny lobster and shrimp. Since there hasn’t
been a freeze so far this winter, the stone crab claws are full of fat. This
gives the meat an especially juicy texture and succulent flavor.
This time of year, there are plenty of fish to be caught in the Atlantic and
the Gulf: yellowtail and mutton snapper, triple tail, pompano, swordfish,
cobia, corvina and wahoo. We are surrounded by a healthy marine ecosystem
that offers sea life a diverse and naturally organic diet. For residents and
chefs alike, adding local fish and seafood to your daily diet is a
delectable way to stay healthy.
The best advice for the home cook is to get to know your fish monger and read
the labels. The best-tasting fish is wild and fresh. It should have a mild,
sea-fresh scent. (A fishy odor is a sign of early decomposition.) Fresh fish
has firm, elastic flesh that springs back when pressed with a finger. For
the best results, cook fish the same day you purchase it.
Chef’s life seasoned with seafood influences
Thierry Beaud and executive chef Julian Gremaud, of Pistache in West Palm
Beach, recently opened PB Catch. The seafood restaurant has an extensive raw
bar, and the menu changes daily depending on the catch.
Gremaud is from St. Tropez in the south of France, where locally caught
Mediterranean fish and seafood are an important part of the diet. At 14, he
was inspired by his mother, a talented home cook, to begin cooking in a
professional kitchen as a pantry chef. At 18, he moved to London and found
work at the restaurant La Colombiere. From there, he moved on to acclaimed
chef Pierre Dufour’s Goolies, returning each summer to cook in popular
restaurants in St. Tropez.
Gremaud’s approach to fish preparation is modern American fusion with Asian
and Caribbean touches. All fish selections on the menu also are offered
simply grilled with a choice of vegetables.
His first stint in the United States was in Chicago where he worked in the
kitchens of Le Français and Le Vichyssois. But life in the sun called; he
began working as a resident chef on yachts and in homes in Florida. He came
full circle, returning to cook in the kitchens of Pistache and PB Catch.
Gremaud’s original recipes include plantain-crusted white tuna with
truffle-scented white asparagus puree, roasted button mushrooms and
pomegranate molasses, pan-roasted yellowtail snapper, royal trumpet
mushrooms, roasted golden cauliflower with mushroom broth, and char-grilled
black grouper with sliced heirloom tomato, arugula, shaved fennel and ginger
aioli.
Moiles develops farm-to-table cuisine
Darryl Moiles, executive chef at the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach, spent the
last four years developing a farm-to-table cuisine. His relationship with
local farmers, suppliers and the culinary community has resulted in a menu
offering pure, simple classical dishes — with a twist.
In response to his customer request, his menus offer an abundance of seafood
selections, such as cobia ceviche with pomelo-lime chili; Keys yellowtail
snapper with spiced mango-cabbage-kumquat marmalade; and applewood-smoked
barbecue cobia with warm truffle potato salad with a honey mustard glaze.
Moiles’ restaurant also features a raw bar with selections of oysters, clams,
Florida stone crabs and shrimp.
A guide to buying shrimp
Americans today eat more than a billion pounds of shrimp a year, about 4
pounds per person, double what it was 20 years ago. Shrimp is now our
favorite seafood, surpassing the king of the can, tuna. Until the 1980s,
most of our shrimp was wild and came from family-run businesses along the
Gulf of Mexico and southern Atlantic shores; then imported farm-raised
shrimp, mostly from Asia, began flooding the United States. Over the last
decade, a series of natural and economic disasters almost decimated the
domestic shrimp industry.
Concern about farmed shellfish has grown recently. American shrimpers, aided
by restaurants and chefs — plus a marketing campaign funded by industry
contributions, foundation grants and federal government assistance — have
been educating consumers about the superior taste of our wild shrimp. They
are sweeter and have a better texture than farm-raised shrimp.
Be sure to ask for Florida shrimp. Here is a guide:
Pink shrimp: Firm texture, mild flavor, with light pink shells that
turn a deeper shade when cooked.
Brown shrimp: Firm, dense meat with light brown or tan shells that turn
coral when cooked.
White shrimp: Firm texture, sweet flavor, with grayish-white shells
that run pink when cooked.
Lesser-known shrimp: Warm-water coastal shrimp include rock shrimp, royal red
shrimp (a deepwater species), roughneck or blood shrimp (also called sugar
shrimp), and the seabob (an oceanic species).
Fish & Seafood with Bill & Sheila
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