johnnyd

I hear you there Fred. It's the give and take a vacation destination locale goes through, for better or worse. Recent bright spot you might not know about is a recent call for a constitutional amendment here that includes waterfront property used for fishing with forestland and farmland that get taxed at a lower rate: This situation has always bugged me. When I was diving, almost all the guys had to drive a long way to get to the pier at 5 in the morning. A fishing town should have fishermen living there. Maybe now the proper balance for Maine coastal towns can be achieved.

I also learned it was bad manners to retire chopsticks in any other fashion put pointing to the left. At a sushi bar it is a sign of respect for the chef.

Thanks to eG, I bookmarked bitterwaitress and ontherail a while back. Great stuff! Thanks to that article, the cat's out of the bag, so I'll bet their servers will be smokin' now.

Booth Bay has it's hands full when summer comes around. I wish Brud had a relative come around and help keep things shipshape because the town probably didn't have the resources to devote to him and his cart. I think not having vending licenses available is a mistake. I had a mobile vending license myself but since it was for a lobsterboat oysterbar, and therefore not on city property, it was State of Maine issue only. I invited the state health inspector to the boat for an inspection (something that never happens, she said) so I could post the result in my cabin for the public to see. A well-run cart can add a lot of character to a corner or a town, or in my case a town pier. Fred, just so ya know, I used to urchin-dive out of BoothBay in winter and I'm a fan of the town and the folks there, but I avoid it in summer. It reminds me of what the Cape and the Vineyard have become like.

Damn, Holly. What a story. It appears that he (and any sidewalk vending) was deemed a nuisance. Also I bet a couple local folks thought he was bad for business cause he looked "out of place" but I'm with you in that a tradition like that, quirks and all, is a part of small town america that is fading from our landscape. This town hall doesn't know how to capitalize on something like that and they don't realize it's most of the reason why people drive two days to get to their town! They'll be sorry one day. Booth Bay is getting crowded these days anyway. Felt like a theme park last time I dropped in, in summertime.

Last night's auction saw 15,269 lbs fresh shrimp consigned and all sold: Low $0.64 Average 0.66 High 0.68 A substantial increase in harvest in a week's time. Prices at retail are steady: I saw Whole Maine Shrimp at $1.49 over the weekend, and we are half way through the season. I've noticed some pretty good sized beasts in the last purchase, and that there are quite a few with collections of eggs clumped between their legs. These add markedly to the flavour of a dish, and to the appearance, since tiny black dots are everywhere. You also get antennae and head debris that, unless pretty well cooked, are a pain. It's about this time in the season when my slowly-coming-around-to-the-idea-of-eating-seafood wife begs me to buy the cleaned, headless fresh shrimp instead of the whole animals which have a right-off-the-boat feel to them, but I'll admit, start being a chore after the initial excitement of the season wears off. Last weekend, I made fabulous shrimp dumplings with barely-cooked shrimp and their roe, minced: napa cabbage/ginger/pine nuts/scallions/parsley and some soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin, and a bit of cornstarch & H20. I dropped them in some boiling chicken stock with parsley leaves and hon-dashi. Wicked good!

Curious... I served three sauces with my Damariscottas: trad. cocktail, mignonette, and an oriental (rice vinegar, sliced scallion and fresh ginger). By mid-summer, the regulars all chose the mignonette. Dams are an amazing oyster. They are farmed about an hour from Portland, but I never see them on menus south of New York City - not really that available and quite expensive. I've had plenty of West Coast oysters and don't see why only they should receive the mignonette treatment, unless it was just an in-house habit. Find out what the logic (if any) is KL, report back to Oyster Central as usual... [over&out!]

Saba is tremendously underappreciated. ← ...word. There are so many mackeral here in the summertime I keep meaning to try my hand at curing a few in salt and Rice Vinegar, like the local sushi chefs. When I lived in Portugal as a kid, my mom and I would hit the beach early enough to score a big bag of fresh sardines from the fishermen. Grilled for breakfast and served in a tomato/onion/parsley vinagrette with fresh papo seco (breadlings), eaten bones-and-all with a spritz of lemon off the tree have to be on the top of a list too long to type out. ...but since you asked: Halibut - poached in mirin, lemon and fennel Red Snapper - baked in soy/ginger/scallion I would eat sushi every day if I could afford it!

We used to throw a clove of garlic and a chopped onion along with a little white wine in an inch of sea water to steam fresh mussels on the beach.

Roxbury Gap, Lincoln Gap and Smugglers Notch are typically closed all winter. DO NOT ATTEMPT unless you are on skis and have a backpack full of Vermont Cheese...

I read somewhere that at the Spam plant, the saying is "Thank you Hawaii" Spam musabi rolls anyone? ← This is beginning to remind me of a Roald Dahl story called "Pig" in which a boy sets off to pursue his culinary ambitions. He is served pork for the very first time... Maybe it's what I imagined chefzadi's plans were with that Sabatier!

Adam, your pictures were wonderful, thank you. What a spread! What camera were you using?

One day you say: "Wouldn't it be fun if we had a blog that was dedicated to food?" and before you know it you have over 12,000 registered members...

Article about Farmed Mussels off Clapboard Island in Casco Bay (with pix)

Stovetop smoker??? whoa! that's a plan that's gotta happen. I could smoke some of this shrimp too! I hate shelling out big bucks for Ducktrap product too, but you can't deny they do a great job.

Absolutely. On-deck stock pot chilling is the best. Lately, however, it's been a little toooo chilly: minus 10 will freeze the nose on your face... but that's not news to you folks, eh snowangel?! (We're getting your snow tonight: about a foot they say. We'll be cooking all night and day!)

Funny you should mention it: I actually did use Great Easterns this weekend. Unfortunately I had to discard about 10 or 12 of 'em as they were dead, but that's about normal. I prefer to use my pals, Craig and Tolof rope-grown from their raft off Clapboard Island ("the Far Side of the Foreside") since I urchined with Craig about ten years ago. He invited me out for a days work in May (it was raining and about 45º) so I got to witness the whole operation, right down to the delivery of a big load of 2lb bags to the dock behind Harbor Fish Market. You can't get 'em fresher. They gave me 14lbs that day! I made a shitload of oil-packed jars with pimentos and capers that night. I saw a local TV piece on Chip's operation and it looks like a terrific idea. It's getting pretty popular downeast among some of the guys I used to dive with. The product is excellent and it's not hurting anything. Some sailors get bent out of shape because of the raft moorings being "too close" to the lanes and some summer people complained about compressors going "all day", but that's life on the coast, people!

Ahem... Valentine's Day is my Birthday... I finally learned back somewhere in my twenties never, never, never go out for dinner on my damn birthday. That year my date had a birthday on February thirteenth so we went out both nights. Her birthday rocked and mine sucked: over-booked restaurant, kitchen in the weeds, surly waitstaff that refused to let me order dessert! Basically everything Lreda et al warned us about. So I just don't do it. I plan a really good dinner at home. One year, I had nothing planned and had no date. I went downtown and hit a couple of bars. I met this terrific lady with whom I seemed to have a lot in common with. About an hour or two into our gabfest, it turns out Valentines Day is her birthday too! I didn't believe it and demanded to see her drivers license. Sure enough, it was. We decided to go out for dinner and had a fantastic time! I drove her home and never saw her again. Fast forward 20-odd years and, well... um... as of last year, Valentine's day is now my wedding anniversary too.

F*cking Bullocks... F*cking Bullocks!!! Lost the round to Mrs. Johnnyd so we had to watch American F*cking Idol!!! Curses! The Walnut Inn isn't scheduled again this season!!! Grrrrrrr !!! mmeggghhhrrrummhh !!!!!! Oh well, *sigh* it will come around again I hope!

Last night's Auction was only 2781 pounds and sold out: Low $0.80 Average 0.81 High 0.84 Prices locally seem to rise a bit day by day. This weekend I made Frutos do Mar na Cataplana, with fresh maine shrimp, local mussels and some cod fillet. It is a tomato based dish that I spent about a half hour detailing here, then Firefox crashed so that's that. If I ever do a foodblog, I'll do it again - a really amazing dish.

Andy, you are returning with some fresh fish this AM if I recall. Does Brighton-Hove have an organized fishing fleet of any kind? I notice a small marina on-line map of Brighton. What's the local specialty?

I suppose this could spawn a retro "Horns and Hardhats"...

I 'n I expectin' a righteous soundtrack wit I-ficially crucial riddims, seen?

Katie, your posts reveal that you are thrilled to be in your new post, congratulations! I had to weigh in here, never mind that I am three or so states away, to say I support the Fruits de mer idea. At this time of year, Maine has superlative seafood and they are not expensive. Whole, Fresh Maine shrimp are auctioning for around a dollar or less. Rope-grown mussels are run through a clever thingie that de-beards them before shipping and run about a buck and change per pound. Scallops are in season now and... well, you know, they just absolutely rock! I'm sure you could adda few of the oysters too. Anyway, have fun at SSOH and if we're in the area, we'll stop in for a few cold ones. johnnyd

Maine Shrimp Update: The shrimp auction on the 10th had an interesting spike in prices for only 2364lbs of harvest: Low bid: $1.20 Average: 1.22 High bid: 1.36 This is the first time I have seen the wholesale prices over a buck this season, and confirmed the rumour I'd heard on the waterfront that prices were rising because of a variety of reasons, all suspect: interruption in supply, tsunami effect, bigtime marketing effort, etc. Of course, I know better than to believe much of what you hear on any waterfront, and true to form, the prices were pretty sad the next night: Low bid: $0.30 Average: 0.592 High bid: 0.75 ... but for 3 times the volume of product sold. We are having some snotty weathah up heeyah. Seas are running about eight feet with accumulating ice, so no boats in their right minds would be out to sea in this. When freezing rain hits decks and rigging and freezes, the weight of the vessel rises very quickly, and if allowed to accumulate, creates a top-heavy condition that will cause it to capsize (tip over and probably sink). This is why you see guys on deck in slickers hitting everything topside with baseball bats, then shoveling chunks of ice overboard... as fast as they possibly can. Any further shrimping will have to wait until this clears up. On the recipe front, we made an amazing pad-thai this week using, of course, Mamster and Pims EGCI Cooking Course on Thai Cooking at Home, and since this batch had been sitting a day or three, decided to immerse them, peeled, in a lime (little susies minis), fish sauce and minced bird chile marinade for a enough time it took to prep the dish - maybe fifteen minutes. The miniature fresh shrimp cooked in seconds, then removed to stand while everything else was made, then added for the final toss. Truly delicious and their wee size seemed more suitable to the spirit of this dish too. Next up: we're going for a seafood stew/bouillabaise/fruit de mer, thingie with scallops, local rope-grown mussels and whole maine shrimp. Wish I had a camera!