johnnyd

The season for Northern Atlantic shrimp has opened here in Northeastern USA. The season opened Dec 1. I picked some up Dec 4 from my usual fishmonger, which had been landed the night before. Those eggs turn pinkish when cooked.

Very interesting article about the need to market Maine Shrimp and a couple reasons why there are problems. Among them, a break in the supply over the last decade... The article is dated March 7 of this year, Bangor Daily News, right after the annual Maine Fisherman's Forum in Rockport, Maine.

Good deal, Timh! We did some calling last year at season's start and wholesalers were skittish. Some said they were waiting for them to "get bigger", others didn't care. You may be disappointed that these little guys are not a priority, and it may be some time before you get some. The point being that we all have to put pressure on our retailers and purveyors of restaurant supply so that a real demand is felt on the wholesalers. Once folks in Plymouth and beyond nag and badger and whine, distributors are finally going to cave in and stock them. Just don't forget to buy them when they are there. Today's price was $0.39 per pound! If someone airlifted those and charged $8/lb, the shipper makes money, the customer gets a delicious novelty - which everyone likes - and the boys on the boat finally get a day's pay. ...and THAT'S what I'm talkin' about.

As soon as I could, I peeled the first one clean and popped it in my mouth.... sublime. I dipped a few more in some home-made ponzu sauce while the water boiled. No time for pictures, my hands were too slimey anyway. It appeared I hadn't lost much of my peeling skills between seasons. Fresh out of the pot... The eggs turned pink when cooked - 30 seconds for a shade more than a pound. The meats were perfect. Overcooking these delicacies will result in mush, fit perhaps for dumplings. I pulled these after exactly 30sec, knowing they will continue cooking in the colander - I learned last year that spraying with cold water to arrest cooking washes out some flavor. Part of the fun is getting them just right. I happened to have a ripe avocado begging to be paired with the season's first harvest, Add a dollop of ginger/miso stuff and we have lunch.

Imagine my surprise when I dropped in on Harbor Fish Market and saw a fish tote overflowing with Maine Shrimp. I was expecting the season to start December 12th. I've been so busy I forgot to check Maine's DMR website. I didn't have my camera but here is a shot from last year. Today's price: Retail Prices - Harbor Fish, Custom House Wharf - Dec 4 2006 Whole: $1.49/lb Headless: $3.99/lb Peeled: $6.99/lb ...compared with last year: Retail Prices - Harbor Fish, Custom House Wharf - Dec 14 2005 Whole: $1.39/lb Headless: $4.50/lb Peeled: $6.99/lb I bought a big scoop for $2.72 check out those eggs...

The Maine Dept. of Marine Resources website posted this press release on November 7th... The season starts December 1, 2006 - ends April 30, 2007 The article goes on to say that "Reappearance of strong 2003 and 2004 year-classes show promise in maintaining relatively high stock abundance and enhancing market conditions. "The Section is encouraged by the prospect of continued abundance levels that should support increased economic benefits and stability to harvesters and processors," " Those of you who remember last year's coverage of the Maine Shrimp Fishery will remember that the demand for shrimp on the floor of the Portland Fish Exchange was pretty damned spotty by the start of February. The price for daily landings was so low, it wasn't worth the gas to leave port. But that was what I saw. Not all landings go through the auction house. There's no rule saying you have to consign your catch to an auction house. Years ago when I was diving for Sea Urchins the smart boats didn't leave the harbor unless they had lined up a buyer who would be waiting for your return. Other boats took their chances amidst the chaos on the pier where several buyers would bid for your catch. Sometimes you got a better deal - sometimes you didn't. Sometimes... there were no buyers at all. So there's a longer season in which to fish for these delicious local morsels... What's going to happen this season? Nobody knows... but I can tell you what happened on the first day: Portland Fish Exchange Shrimp Auction - December 3, 2006: BOATS: 1 6103 lbs consigned 6103 lbs sold $0.39 - low bid $0.39 - average $0.39 - high bid

Funny you should ask!

Ladies and Gentlemen... may I present a toast to the opening of this years Shrimp Season... Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

...and the fate of the flight suit. It's Alain after all...

...then there's the prospect of one astronaut haling from Brittany who is conversant in "Fart Art" - a potentially explosive situation - and that part of the menu should list later. sorry!

ISS Astronauts usual Rations swaped on Sunday for... (BBC Online) Yum!

Someone mentioned the change over there and I called the Shahnaz number - which is when I chatted with Zoe. She has an accent to die for - but can she cook?! What happened at the Exchange St place? I heard those folks are nepalese and have, or ha,d a greek place around Boston somewhere.

...um, so anyway... thanks so much for the Customer's Suck! site - I wasted a perfectly good afternoon laughing my ass off and cluttering up colleagues inboxes with links to posts in there. I still think Bitter Waitress rules the whine heap - hat's off!

...okay, so booze is out of the question... I make veggie spring rolls with a sweet chili dip. Almost everything else brought is heavy with bread, cheese and sugar, so it's a relief to some. Roll 'em up in the morning and cover w/plastic.

Shahnaz Persian Grille has sold the restaurant (but not the building) to Nico and Zoe, new owner/chefs of The Acropolis Greek Cuisine. A friend saw a banner over the Shahnaz sign y'day so I called the old number and talked to Zoe. I'll have to check it out but I'll miss that delicious Koresh-e Fessenjan.

Outstanding. Love those custom knives. I see one made of antler. The shucking post is new to me - excellent design. I think the prize$$$ is too low for 12k visitors. People coming from Sweden and Ireland pay more than $2k to get to PEI I imagine. From the looks of things, it will only grow as the festival gets better organized. Can't wait for more!!

Espresso in a shotglass. Now that's what I'm talkin' about.

In Brazil, Batida de coco is made with two parts coconut cream and one part cachaça. I'd imagine you could tweak this and combine one part coconut cream, and one part dulce de leite for a richer Batida. And how about adding one part pineapple puree to the above as a mix for a measure of rum? You get a more intense version of a Pina Colada

Emma! Finally caught a show! You're the bomb, baby! Great job on camera! You'll crush 'em next time!

Wow, things have changed around Luz. My family built a small house between Luz and Burgau in the 70's and lived there for 15 years. Luz was my playground as a teenager. I was a bar-back at "A Concha", owned by Billy Stiff from La Jolla CA. It was the only restaurant on the beach beside the sardine and chicken grill that would set up in the sand in the summer. Many memories! Looks like quite the spot now, thanks for heads-up jason32!

I couldn't find anything about it on the FTV site when I searched for a reference or blurb to link on my post. I'd imagine they are waiting for more material to fill a page or two first? Either that or I didn't look hard enough.

Filipe e um portuguesa com certeza! I asked Mario Batali if he knew the origin of this trick back when he was a guest here on eGullet. He said it's a well-known trick for chefs over 50yrs old... but offered little on it's origin.

The new reality series drops a chef in a remote location who is challenged with finding everything needed to prepare a gourmet meal for 200 by 6pm. The pilot was filmed on Isleford, Maine (see "2006 Harvest Supper") October 6th for airing January 2007. Chef Robert Irvine, two sous chefs and a FTV crew arrived on Little Cranberry Island, a 45 minute ferry ride off Mt. Desert Island, and immediately commandeered all available kitchen space and gear on the island... Vivid reporting by Working Waterfront.com The event raised over $2000 for the new salt water pumper-tank truck for the Islesford Volunteer Fire Department.

It's getting hot in here! (NYTimes Styles 11-19-06) Porchetta, on Smith Street in Brooklyn NY weighs in with the Pork Margarita...

Another one mentioned is Otter Creek's Stovepipe Porter, a delicious brew I had the fortune of becoming intimate with during a maple syrup boil-down, years ago in Jericho, Vermont. There were cases of it tucked into the snowbanks by a bonfire as we kept an eye on the "arch" where sap was slowly boiling down to syrup. We were there for three straight days feeding the arch's fire, listening to banjos and guitars. Endless pots of food would appear. Somehow, we never ran out of anything - that's yankee ingenuity for you! we all got a gallon of syrup each.