My Big Project

[russ parsons]

Here's what I've been working on for the last couple of weeks. A big project like this is so much fun to do, but it is also an incredible sense of relief when it is done.

Sardine Fishing

Sardine Cooking

I hope you like them.

[badthings]

That's what I call food writing, Russ. Awesome. Thank you.

By the way, Lulu Peyraud grills them whole -- you are, I think, supposed to gut them yourself as you eat them with your hands. (not that I hang out at with Lulu, I just looked it up a couple weeks ago when I got some beautiful Monterey sardines. I gutted them first).

[bloviatrix]

Fascinating article. I had no idea that canned tuna came about because of a sardine decline.

How many times did you go out with the fishing boat? And how/why did you chose these particular guys to focus on?

[Jim Dixon]

I'm getting hungry...one of my favorite food moments was at a street fair in Brooklyn. Grilled fresh sardines were 5 for $5.

We've got a nice sardine fishery up here (in Oregon), but it's the same story: most of the catch goes for feed. It's rare to find fresh sardines anywhere, and the one store catering to the Asian population that might have them (Uwijamaya) is too far out in the suburbs to check with any regularity.

I'd love to see more consumer demand for things like fresh sardines so they'd be more available, but there's a chicken-and-egg problem. How do people learn to like sardines if they can't find them in the market or on the menu?

Jim

[russ parsons]

Thanks, I'll try to answer the very good questions in order:

blo: I only went out on the boat once. As you might imagine, working fishermen aren't really happy having a reporter and photographer on board. It took some negotiation to get this. I chose these guys because they were the ones who agreed to do it. I had done a story on petrale sole last winter and got a note from a woman in San Pedro who said I ought to do a story like that on sardines. I told her I'd love to, someday. I was reminded of that when I did a story on the best places to buy fish in Los Angeles and I went to Japanese groceries and saw the fresh sardines I'd always thought of as being a rare and precious ingredient, selling for $2 a pound. So I called the woman back and she hooked me up with someone who hooked me up with someone. It was an amazing experience.

Jim: I think it is a chicken-and-egg thing, but demand builds in funny ways. I don't know what the market is like up in the Northwest, but down here, fresh grilled sardines are not uncommon anymore on the menus of "urban rustic" restaurants. I think it's a slow process, but the ingredient is there and it's good and it's also extremely sustainable. Why should those farmed bluefin be getting all teh good stuff?

[bloviatrix]

There have been so many times over the years that I've read an article and wished I had direct access to the author in order to ask questions and get more information. This is like a dream come true.

Since I read your article on-line, I don't have the benefit of seeing the accompanying photos. What are they of?

And then there's insurance: Lauro says his jumped from $11,700 a year to $38,000 right after Sept. 11, without him having filed a single claim.

Do you have any idea why the insurance rates tripled?

Edited October 15, 2003 by bloviatrix (log)

[Jim Dixon]

I'm guessing that for us there's a critical mass factor at work. It might require every urban rustic restaurant in Portland serving sardines to make it worthwhile for a supplier. For now, the few restaurants that do take the risk typically order the fish from the fishermen.

Next time I head south I'll have to eat up.

Thanks

Jim

[russ parsons]

Since I read your article on-line, I don't have the benefit of seeing the accompanying photos.  What are they of?

Do you have any idea why the insurance rates tripled?

Check out the PDF, go to the food section, then look in the upper lefthand corner. It really is worth it for this story, the photographer did a magnificent job and so did our page designer. it's really beautiful, both the cover and the jump.

As for insurance, he wasn't real clear. He said that his agent told him that insurance companies had taken it so hard in 9-11 that everyone's rates were going up. I do know that there is a business insurance crisis here in California. Maybe that's why.

[bloviatrix]

Thanks for clueing me in.

I loved the photo on the top of page 4. It's very serene. Plus, there's something about seeing the faces of Lauro and his crew that further personalizes the story.