Seafood Cakes

[wcmckinney]

I have been on a kick lately exploring different kinds of seafood croquettes:

Salmon cakes

Crab cakes

Shrimp cakes

While I wouldn't wage that these are uniquely Southern, I was wondering if y'all had any distinct memories of Southern Style seafood cakes/fritters/croquettes.

Are they an acceptable breakfast food? Do they go with grits best, or what best accompanies them? Can they be improved upon? I know Louis's in Pawleys Island, SC does a pretty nifty Shrimp and Mushroom Burger which is a similar entity.

[chefdg]

Wood grilled salmon/trout cakes from a place I worked in Cruso N.C. Grill the fillets over high heat quickly, do not cook fully, and then make the cakes with whatever ingredients you want in them. I have searved crab cake benedicts before and got rave reviews.

[FistFullaRoux]

In Louisiana, the "trash fish" are usually made into cakes or dumpling kind of things. Fish like garfish are boned out as much as possible (not that you get a good fillet, therefore - trash fish) then mixed with potato or a breadcrumb/egg mixture, then fried off. Quite good, actually. But you'll never see it in a restaurant.

The trash fish were the ones that the fishermen brought home to the family. He sold the ones that would make money. It was born out of neccessity.

Edited July 20, 2004 by FistFullaRoux (log)

[FL Heat]

In Tennessee, it wasn't uncommon to have fried fish left over from the night before with breakfast the next morning. And by breakfast, I mean eggs, bacon, grits, tomatoes, the whole thing. Fried fish was put in the icebox (that's what they called it. . .), then heated up in the skillet in the morning. Was it delicious? Not particularly.

The same relatives made cake-type-things out of crappie, catfish, bass (basically, whatever was biting in the lake), plus egg, mustard, and bread crumbs (usually leftover cornbread). And salt & pepper. The lumps were thrown in the deep fryer and ended up as a sorta hush-puppy thing. The "necessity" clause was always invoked when I asked about these. . .apparently, for my Papaw's mom (that'd be my great-grandmother), it was a way to guarantee enough for dinner and stretch the fish further while using something they always had plenty of--corn meal.

Diana

[Varmint]

Bluefish cakes are a traditional coastal dish, consisting of bluefish cooked until flaky, cooked potatoes, and raw onions. Pan fry.