Fresh Maine shrimp

[johnnyd]

David's fish market in Salisbury, MA, aka the center of my seafood universe, has had fresh shrimp only rarely this season & I've had bad luck on my visits.

Much activity at the auction may yield an appearance of fresh Maine shrimp in other states shortly:

Feb 1: 13,873 lbs fresh shrimp consigned and all sold (to probably one buyer):

Low $0.66

Average 0.66

High 0.66

Feb 2: 14,123 lbs fresh shrimp consigned and 13,769 sold:

Low $0.70

Average 0.72

High 0.74

Both days saw 6 boats landed each, and a truck or two from downeast. Indeed, I have noticed from my perch by the harbour a lot of trawlers leaving early lately. I'm sure they are relieved at the break in the weather.

Whether any of it makes it out of state to your favourite fish purveyor or restaurant is the one link I am clueless about. I have a feeling it's all getting peeled and frozen here in town. Hmmm.... I'm curious now. Time to pick up the phone...

[pennbrew]

When does the Maine shrimp season end this year??

Thanks!

---Guy

[johnnyd]

This year's Shrimp season ends on March 25, earlier than past years to allow females to hatch their young. More about the Maine Shrimp Season and it's fishermen here.

Recent Auction Action:

February 7: 5 boats and 4 trucks consigned 21,419lbs. All were sold:

Low Price: $0.64

Avg Price: $0.71

High Price: $0.76

February 8: 7 boats and 2 trucks consigned 24,229lbs. All were sold:

Low Price: $0.60

Avg Price: $0.73

High Price: $0.75

I called the auction house and asked what became of the fresh shrimp after the auction and was told by a very chatty receptionist that about 80% are "processed" (be-headed, cleaned and frozen), by three local concerns. The rest are sold to retailers and restaurants. He didn't know if much made it out of state. He said the volume is picking up (see above). Average auction is 12klbs but this week was almost twice that. The stretch of good fishing weather ends tomorrow when a nor'easter starts blowing.

I have received permission to attend an auction and take pictures sometime in the weeks ahead. I'll start a new thread when that happens.

Flash boiled a couple handful last night with bay leaves and peppercorn, two minutes at the most. Spritzed a meyer lemon on 'em and called it dinner. Yum!

Edited February 9, 2005 by johnnyd (log)

[fchrisgrimm]

Johnny, your shrimp updates are one of the highlights of my daily e-gullet routine. Now if I could only find a good source here in Fairfield County, CT...

[ludja]

...

I have received permission to attend an auction and take pictures sometime in the weeks ahead.  I'll start a new thread when that happens. 

←

cool johnnyd, as a born and raised New Englander (and shrimp lover) I've been following this thread with much interest...and dreaming of fresh shrimp out here. Hope you do get to visit and report on the shrimp auction in person.

(Actually, I don't know if we can get fresh shrilmp out here; I need to check it out... )

[Bond Girl]

Wait, how does this happen? I bought main shrimps yesterday at Wild Edibles for $8.99 per lbs heads on. They were very good, but a bitch to cook and shell.

Johnnyd, when you say ginger lime soy, do you just eat them raw? Also, since I've no experience with them, are they naturally pink in color? Or, was that chemically helped?

[johnnyd]

They are indeed sharp little thingies around the head area that you have to watch out for and the antennae keep showing up in the nooks of my kitchen!

The trick is to cook 'em whole, then snap the head piece off at a right-angle to remove. then hold the back, legs facing you, grab legs, transfer your hold to the tail, then peel around the back to remove mid-section-shell. Squeeze tail, and into your mouth goes the tasty morsel. Yum! Simmer heads and shells for stock, never mind that it looks grey and nasty!

They are naturally pink so the red stuff is not artificial - I know, hard to believe. The soy wasabi sauce was for raw shrimp, yes. They are the ama-ebi sushi one sees on the east coast - sweet as candy. You'll have to consider how far away from Maine you are before I'd recommend eating them this way. If there is any hint of iodine, pass.

Whole Maine Shrimp retails for $1.49 down at the docks. I guess this is why Whole Foods is doing so well!

Thanks for the feedback folks! I was wondering if my one-man crusade to promote these delicious little critters was making me look a little odd! ...not that that's too far off the mark...

[ghostrider]

Thanks for the feedback folks!  I was wondering if my one-man crusade to promote these delicious little critters was making me look a little odd!    ...not that that's too far off the mark...

←

Weird- I've been working on a little piece for another outlet, about the odd people that you meet on mountaintops, which concludes with a very similar line.....

Maybe this is why that OddFellows organization keeps going.

[elrap]

Fresh Maine shrimp finally reappeared at David's market in Salisbury, MA, which does a lot of the local processing here at the southern end of the Gulf of Maine. The local shrimpers were apparently waiting for a slightly larger size, and more prolific catch, to make it all worth their while in my neck of the sea

The shrimp I bought saturday were indeed large for bay shrimp, and sold at the typical David's price of $6 a pound. Compared to the frozen version that had appeared on and off here for the past month or two, these fresh shrimp were extraordinarily delicate, with an almost crumbly texture when they are lightly cooked. I boiled 3/4 lb. in salted water with a bay leaf, whole coriander seed, and a few red pepper flakes for really just a few seconds, chilled them, ate a bunch out of hand, and made appetizers with the Tampico-style chili sauce and avocado cubes referenced earlier. Plus a spritz of lime. Terrific.

I had a sudden thought to make sui mai with the rest, but these guys were really too delicate to puree, becoming a little soupy. We ate a bunch anyway, but I've learned my lesson and will stick to purer forms of consumption as the season rolls on. I'm going to see if I can get my Valentine to pick up some more today so we can have them with champagne. Meanwhile I'll be looking up recipes for Dublin Bay potted prawns, or maybe thinking of making some lemon mayonnaise, or a spinach salad.

--L. Rap

[johnnyd]

Owing to the large volume harvested recently the price of cleaned headless fresh shrimp dropped to $2.99 from $3.99 over the weekend.

I noticed the count is lower per pound because shrimp are indeed larger now.

I get fewer "crumbly" ones if you have the water at a rolling boil, then flash some cold water in the collander when draining. Also the fewer you cook up, the better chance of firm shrimp in the shell. The whole, head-on shrimp tend to yield a mushier meat, probably because the head area holds more fluid, affecting the texture.

Made a bow-tie pasta, shrimp, peas and proshoot dish with an instant bernaise from a McCormicks envelope last night. Pinot Grigio and baguette rounded it out. Delish!

[docsconz]

I get fewer "crumbly" ones if you have the water at a rolling boil, then flash some cold water in the collander when draining.  Also the fewer you cook up, the better chance of firm shrimp in the shell.  The whole, head-on shrimp tend to yield a mushier meat, probably because the head area holds more fluid, affecting the texture.

←

They may also contain enzymes that effect the quality.

[HungryChris]

We made a trip up to TJ's in Framingham Saturday and that always includes a walk through Whole Food which is just up the street. They had fresh Maine shrimp for $5.99 /lb. I picked up half a pound to try out. I cleaned them first (kind of a pain although the head had already been removed) and sauteed them in a mixture of butter and evoo with a big handful of chopped cilantro and a big clove of garlic, minced. I added a pinch or two of hot pepper flakes and the juice of a fresh lime along with a bit of the zest. I had this over angel hair pasta. It was a clear winner and I can't wait to get some more. I'll be watching for these from now on!

Cheers,

HC

[elrap]

David's in Salisbury, MA sells them cleaned for $6 a pound. I rarely see head-on there. I am a lucky man indeed, though I bet the shells and heads make a nice stock.

--L> Rap

[Ellie]

Grabbed a pound last night, shell on, heads off. Sauteed them on high heat with olive oil and a bit of butter. Then tossed them with homemade chili paste(left over from chili last week), siracha chili sauce, dash vinegar, lime juice and cilantro. Just wonderful. The sweetness of the shrimp works well with the smoky heat. Messy but delicious!

[johnnyd]

Wow!

Two days of auctions yielded over 71,000 lbs of fresh shrimp! Prices averaged about 60 cents per pound so thats $42k for some hard working fishermen, or "a good day's pay" as the saying goes.

2/14 - 38,456lbs - 9 boats

Low price: $0.56

Average: 0.59

High: 0.63

2/16 - 32,307lbs - 10 boats

Low price: $0.57

Average: 0.59

High: 0.64

Created something yesterday that was inspired by Chufi's Amsterdam Foodblog last week. Made a melange of chorizo, onion, garlic, thyme, tomato and chickpeas, then added some shrimp I had poached in EVOO, garlic and paprika. Tasty!

Still trying to get the hang of my new Canon A85 so I can hit the docks and document the Gulf of Maine Shrimp story. Stay tuned!

Edited February 18, 2005 by johnnyd (log)

[LindaK]

I don't see anyone mentioning Wednesday's Boston Globe article about these tasy critters. Not sure how long the article will be available on-line, click while you can.

[johnnyd]

That's a great article, thanks LindaK!

I never knew this...

Maine shrimp begin their life cycle as males and end up females.

...which, besides the obvious ramifications of character , explains why every shrimp in the bag have roe: they are coming in-shore to release eggs.

When I was a diver for sea urchins, we would sometimes hunt along the shallows in-shore and find patches of eelgrass. When disturbed as we floated through, thousands of small creatures would scurry out of the patch in a cloud. Once when I took the time to really look, I realized that they were tiny shrimp, I mean really tiny like a flea. After that I never had a problem with the numbers, there are millions of shrimp out there... which is what we said about the sea urchin population ten years ago...

Edited February 18, 2005 by johnnyd (log)

[johnnyd]

[cue old-time, acadian sea shanty]

Aaargh, maties!

Maine shrimp are seeing robust activity at the auction this week although the volume is not as huge as last week:

2/21 - 18,869lbs - 8 boats

Low price: $0.75

Average: 0.75

High: 0.76

2/22 - 11,320lbs - 4 boats

Low price: $0.65

Average: 0.66

High: 0.82

Lifted the following graph from the Portland Fish Auction website (thanks, guys!) I can't claim to see any grand trend except when one introduces the terrible Nor'easters we have been getting nearly every week, then I recognize the cause for spikes.

Made a massive pad thai yesterday. I was peeling some shrimp and dropping them into a bird chili, lime juice and fish sauce marinade. I realized there was no point in stopping as I would probably pick up more shrimp in a couple of days. There was probably fifty of the little buggers! I swear their incorporation make the best pad thai but the credit goes to Pim and Mamster's Pad Thai recipe (see up-thread).

Opened the times today and saw Mark Bittman's "Shrimp Without Distraction" recipe? which I will just have to try. The hardcopy mentions blanching scallions, then pureeing with garlic to add to shrimp saute; finish w/fresh scallion and cilantro. Hmmm... might have to spritz at service with lime or meyer lemon, dude. ..

Aaargh!

[/cue old-time, acadian sea shanty]

[ghostrider]

Wait, how does this happen?  I bought main shrimps yesterday at Wild Edibles for $8.99 per lbs heads on.  They were very good, but a bitch to cook and shell. 

Johnnyd, when you say ginger lime soy, do you just eat them raw?  Also, since I've no experience with them, are they naturally pink in color? Or, was that chemically helped?

←

Ha! Until your post in General Food Topics about WE's handling practices, it simply didn't register on me that this means the little buggers are available in NYC.

I wonder if Grand Central Station is as far south as the fresh ones get.

I wonder how well they'd survie the trip back to Jersey.

Food for thought here......

[johnnyd]

So I went to the Auction house tonight and got my visitor's pass. Linda, the very kind front-line person showed me which door to use so I don't get mowed down by loading trucks. There were already stacks of totes (tough, poly fish boxes with interlocking corners) FULL of shrimp that were ACTUALLY JUMPING!

So I took a quick picture on my way out to the 40-footer that was unloading more shrimp.

Unfortunately, my new Canon shit the bed right at the pier's edge. No juice! I made arrangements to pop in tomorrow, but I hear the weather will deteriorate... should be fun!

[ghostrider]

Enjoying the front-line reports!

[johnnyd]

Check out my recent visit to the Portland Fish Exchange for pictures of fresh shrimp being off-loaded, weighed and prepped for auction.

The pix on that topic, "Maine Shrimp Harvesters - 2005" were taken Thursday, 2-24-05:

2/24 - 33,403lbs - 7 boats

Low: $0.59

Average: 0.61

High: 0.62

After all that time at the Auction House, I actually walked out of there WITHOUT ANY SHRIMP!!!

[Chris Amirault]

This is just a fantastic thread, Johnny! I've been scarfing them up, buying them at $6/# at Whole Foods here in Prov, for weeks since your tip-off. Thanks!

[johnnyd]

Yesterday's auction saw the biggest load of shrimp I've seen to date:

2/28/05 - 44,736lbs - 8 boats, 4 trucks

Low price: $0.58

Average: 0.60

High: 0.63

Made a small shrimp chowder yesterday for the snow-day expected today. It was so good I ate it all before a single flake fell.

2 slice diced bacon rendered and removed to which I sauteed diced onion and fennel bulb, about a cup each. Added one diced potato until glassy, then one minced garlic clove. I only had a cup of chicken stock so I peeled my half pound of shrimp and simmered the shells in a cup of water for a half an hour. Added both stocks and a dash of hon-dashi for good measure. When bubbly, I added my shrimp, a cup of good heavy cream from our local Smiling Hill Dairy, and stirred in the bacon bits with the heat off. My "test" bowl got a grind or two of white pepper and off I went to read Malawry's Foodblog. I kept coming back for another "test" and by the time I finished eGulleting, the pot was empty.

This is a chowder that I'm going to have to make in bulk to freeze for the summer.

[slbunge]

Maine shrimp were $5 per pound (special) at Whole Foods in Newton Saturday. The shrimp smelled fresh and came deheaded. Picked up a pound and prepared them (marginally) provencal with garlic, caper, lemon, and parsley. Very tasty.

Though small and delicate, I found them quite easy to peel. I was not happy with the stock I made from the shells, legs, and roe. It had a sharp smell of ammonia and the flavor was weak with a slight ammonia taint. Curious because the whole shrimps smelled fresh, the flesh looked good, and they cooked up with a nice clean, sweet flavor. Any ideas?