johnnyd

It's been a great shrimp season! In prior years, the season lasted a mere two or four weeks, a calculated bet by Maine's Department of Marine Resources to manage the fishing pressure on a particular species. This season was about three months based on careful research by the DMR. I can't recall a season this long or this plentiful. I have had freakin' shrimp at least three times a week since Christmas! Thank god the season's over or I would have turned into one! Thanks everybody for following a typical fishing cycle. It's a rhythm that's lost in the 21st century shuffle along with farming and hunting. Thanks also to Mr. ghostrider for starting this thread and to all who added their culinary angles on these tasty New England morsels. Last Day of Maine Shrimp Season: 3/25/05 - 688lbs - 1 boat Low price: $0.55 Average: 0.55 High: 0.55 See you next year! edit to add link to pictures of Maine Shrimp Fishermen and the Portland Auction Exchange

Nice looking oysters if I may say so myself.

Corsica! I remember reading of a fabulous cheese from there that had bits of forest stuck in it's rind. The Lonzu is displayed on what looks like a piece of cork tree bark. It all looks very delicious.

...just about a kilometer from the rail-road track? sorry...

Fred, Katahdin at 106 High Street is a local favorite. Here is an old review from a "Food in Portland" website that hasn't been updated in years, but still a source of good info. Saltwater Grille is across the harbor on the South Portland side (see their menus) so it has a great view of the town. The food isn't bad and the wine list reasonable. Some things are quirky, like their goat cheese w/romaine (served as grilled wedges which I didn't like and confused my date) but you can't fault them for trying. The view is worth it. I'll post later if anything else comes up.

Today's lunch was a little indulgent... but I can't help it: I'm a pig for fresh Maine shrimp! One big handful of fresh Maine shrimp, boiled in bayleaf for about two minutes, one perfect avocado, a frond of celery and a ring or three of bermuda onion... ... then I added a few cucumber slices, a slice of meyer lemon, and a ricewine vinegar/miso dressing. A twist of white pepper and I'm in shrimp heaven! Man, I'm gonna miss these little guys. Last night's auction saw only one boat and one truck arrive to consign 3,268lbs of shrimp, about a tenth of the volume from a month ago, and it appeared to go to one buyer for $0.51/lb.

Okay, that does it! Those in favor of voting for a permanent bleudauvergne foodblog say AYE! We'll need: a) To pitch in and have Jason knock together a nice new computer for her, b) Arrange sponsorships to pay for all that connect time, photography and food, c) Send Varmint to Lyon to supervise the kitchen renovation... what else? oh... d) Send our best negotiator (FatGuy?) to her office to arrange more time off and a raise!

How about creating some unlikely items using marzipan?

Dude! Wotta waste! ...ah youth... I was in Suisse for high school and we abused Poire and Pfumli at a shameful rate!

...also, a couple bouquets of flowers on the back shelf looks good in my book too. His walk-in is set in a mirrored wall, cool as well. I noticed the CHEVAL in the foreground; are they tenderloins??? are they... *gulp*... like, really, really big?!

Ellie, I did freeze the headless shrimp with their shells one year and when they thawed, the shells had maintained their shape somewhat but the meats were mushy. Since the flesh have a primarily water-based composition, I feel they freeze and thaw at a different rate than calcium-based exoskeletons. Since I failed to preserve the beasties as they were in season, it's peeled only. The larger commercially available shrimp are flash frozen in a nitrogen-fired freezer that does the job in a fraction of the time my old GE can do it, thus the displays of shell-on tiger (and other species) shrimp at your local seafood purveyor. Recent Shrimp Auctions: 3/18/05 - 10,327lbs - 5 boats, 3 trucks Low price: $0.53 Average: 0.53 High: 0.53 3/21/05 - 14,478lbs - 5 boats, 2 trucks Low price: $0.41 Average: 0.41 High: 0.41 3/22/05 - 10,590lbs - 4 boats, 2 trucks Low price: $0.40 Average: 0.47 High: 0.55 Made a chowder y'day with pollack (@$2.49/lb, I couldn't pass it up) and about a pound of peeled Maine shrimp. I use a variation of a mid-Cape recipe that adds finely diced green pepper and carrot to bacon rendering, to which I add diced fennel and large dice potato. I used four cups of shrimp-head stock I made last week and two cups heated milk, plus some fresh thyme leaves and a bayleaf. When it was all said and done, I realized I'd forgotten onion, and the vegies I had used were too far front-and-center. Hrrmph. It'll have a whole different character today, so we'll see what can be done to the quart I blithely put in the freezer before tasting the whole batch first! I never said I was that bright now, did I...?

You guys rock! What a great blog! It's a total bonus that other eGers are present here! Very cool!

...ding! ...just under twenty minutes. Yield: three containers, each enough to add to a pasta dish for two. I made a quick shrimp salad sandwich w/cucumber using another handful of shrimp in the pot so I guess I ate a pound and shucked four. Time to go back for more! It's a race against time, I tell you!!!

So I got home with five pounds of fresh shrimp... and the first handful on the plate became sashimi. I had to struggle a little bit to keep them straight for cleaning, because to my surprise, there was a slight tug going on, like they were trying to jump out of my hand! Next, I par-boiled a handfull... ... and had them with a little meyer lemon juice. Scrumptious! I'm peeling the bulk of the bag to get ready for the shrimpless months ahead...

Depending on weather and the whim of wholesalers, there will still be shrimp available at retail up to five or so days after the 25th. After April 1st, buy only the frozen Maine Shrimp.

Harbor Fish Market on Custom House Wharf in Portland had Shrimp in the shell for sale today for $1.59/lb or $1.29 for 5+lbs. Guess which way I went on that deal? and also shells-off at $6.49/lb. Note the local scallops to the right - monsters! Friday's Auction yielded 41,564 lbs 12 boats, 7 trucks Low price: $0.40 Average: 0.48 High: 0.52 Then this week, the volume plummeted: 3/14/05 - 16,745lbs - 7 boats, 3 trucks Low price: $0.40 Average: 0.46 High: 0.51 3/15/05 - 7,780lbs - 2 boats, 1 trucks Low price: $0.50 Average: 0.50 High: 0.50 Could be that the shrimpers are beginning to call it quits for the season or pissed off that the price is so low. Hard to say. One thing's for sure...

Anytime I start thinking of Fresh Maine Shrimp I have to go get some. I went back to Harbor Fish Market today and last night's auction yield was sitting right in the middle of the store... So I got the ever ebullient Zach to bag up five pounds for me... Some were still wiggling! Zach also gave me some 1/2lb plastic containers so I could freeze small batches for use during the rest of the year. As I exited Harbor Fish, I had to capture the wildlife down on Portland's wharf. Harbor Fish has a collection going at the register for wharf kitty welfare. Not so the sky rat further down the walkway who has made off with a plastic fish container.

Here is my favorite Seafood Purveyor here in Portland, Harbor Fish Market.. They get fresh shrimp the morning after the Auction and sell it out of fish totes for about $1.79 per pound. Unfortunately, I seem to arrive (three times now) a little too late to take a picture of these totefull o' shrimp and have to settle for a tray of heads-off shrimp at $3.99/lb Regular tigers are to the left.... but who cares about those??

Incredibly... yes! After 30 years too. It has a detachable top, copper as well, that tapers down into a funnel that, at it's mouth, is about three inches wide.

When I was a teen in São Paulo Brasil, my dad came back one day with one of these monsters. It was about five foot high and four foot in diameter, all hand-hammered copper. Guess who got to polish it?

That looks interesting, loper. A ribbon of fresh daikon on top, I presume? More pix of shrimp everybody! I'll try to get some up of my own this weekend. Our townhouse overlooks the entrance to Portland Harbor. Last night, I swear the phone poles were gonna come down. The lines were whipping up and down, the snow was going horizontal, and I thought I saw Auntie Em's cow fly by. Things will calm down enough for the fleet to leave port by Thursday. edit to add answer for slbunge: The fleet loses the weather days, which is okay because in effect, it's a built-in control on fishing effort, thus preserving the biomass. This storm was big enough to keep everybody in - the rumour is that it got to hurricane force in the gulf.

Tonight's Boiling Point (from BBC America website): Indeed a show older than 'Nightmares. Perhaps repeating now to make way for his new show? Having worked a short spell in a busy BOH, calling your colleagues anything better than "shithead" was disrespectful. I am therefore not offended by the "spic" call, no matter how sociopathic Gordo appears to be, that's life in a kitchen, boyo!

Bummer. Your shrimp were out of the water too long. These guys are sooooo delicate. It's also the very smallest that "turn" first, sometimes ruining the whole bag. These have a yellower tint I've noticed. Interesting note: between your post and chrisamiraults, the price at Whole Foods dropped a dollar, possibly reflecting the need to move these critters faster. ... and the price could go south even more! Last night's volume was massive: 3/7/05 - 58,765lbs - 11 boats, 7 trucks Low price: $0.55 Average: 0.56 High: 0.60 The season ends on the 25th so there are 17 days left.... edit to add: Really bad weather the next two days will prohibit shrimping. Seas are expected as high as 22feet and gale-force winds to 45knots. Last night is the last auction for a couple days so the time to shop for them is tonight and tomorrow!

Holy Hannah, jhlurie! It's mole! You simmer this sucker for a month at least! But seriously folks, when Mr. Lee sent this to me and I saw Avocado Leaves I went "screw this!" and went and bought Maria so n' so jar o' mole instead. Got so sick I vowed I'd never "buy" mole sauce again. So I keep this damned recipe around thinking I'll eventually stir up a pot. My strategy was to just leave out or substitute the nuttier items, get it going at noon, turn off the simmer when I went to bed and leave it to meld overnight. On the other hand, Abra's amazing photo essay is a far better looking strategy for making mole. It pays to keep a dish as close to the original method as possible, no?