Man, I love Gulf seafood. I love the shrimp. I love the crab. I love the redfish. I love the oysters. I love it all. That's why I do not plan on eating any for quite some time - not from the Gulf.
There is a movement afoot saying that in order to save gulf seafood one must eat it. While I believe that makes absolute sense for farm-raised and grown animals and products like rare heritage breeds, for which a market must be made so that farmers can afford to raise, grow and save them, it is a different story for wild seafood, especially seafood from the Gulf now and for the foreseeable future. The oil spill has been absolutely devastating and not just to the creatures of the sea whose very existences are threatened. Millions of migratory birds and other animals that rely on feeding in the Gulf's many waterways are suffering as evidenced by photos of their oil-saturated bodies. It may be some time before the full environmental effects of the spill are apparent in other parts of the country and the world. If the flap of a single butterfly's wings has the potential to change the world, what about something as egregious as this?
It is also devastating to the many people who rely on the Gulf seafood culture for their livelihoods - the fishermen, the shrimpers, the crabbers, the oystermen and so many more. Important skills and traditions are in great danger of being lost, a tragic possibility.
The problem with wild caught seafood is that the stocks of many of the most delicious sea creatures such as the bluefin tuna are already under extreme pressure. Now with the Gulf environment under unprecedented pressure, there are probably relatively few areas where the wild stocks can still survive, let alone thrive. I believe that for the foreseeable future, these stocks should be allowed to maintain themselves and recover as best they can. If people continue to look to eat Gulf seafood, then they will have to be fished from whatever "safe" areas are left, putting even more stress on an already stressed out system. No, I think in order to save Gulf seafood we must let that which can survive, survive. Unfortunately, the fishing traditions may very well be lost. However, if, through our efforts to "save" them there aren't any fish left in the sea to catch, then said traditions would be lost regardless. Hopefully, if and when the Gulf gets cleaned up, enough fish and skilled people who know how to catch them in a sustainable fashion will still be around. I dream for that day again.
Before our foray for crawfish, we spent the better part of our day in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana - a charming small town in the heart of Cajun country where the street signs are still in French and the place where Scott Boswell gets his boudin for the wonderful "Beaux Bridge Benedict" he serves at his Jackson Square restaurant, Stanley. That place, a small grocery called Charlie-T's, makes their boudin artisanally daily in two varieties - pork and seafood. We bought some along with some Cajun spiced cracklins' and sat outside to sample them.The seafood boudin is good, but the pork is amazing. Even more amazing were the cracklin's - crisp, flavorful, nuggets of wonderful pork.
We arrived in Breaux Bridge on a beautiful spring day in time to have lunch at their most well known restaurant, the lovely Cafe Des Amis, owned by the former Louisiana state legislator, Dickie Breaux. The restaurant is well known for its Cajun cooking and crawfish, in particular is everywhere on the menu, as it should be given that Breaux Bridge is the home of the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival coming up in the beginning of May. Needless to say, we ordered a bunch of different dishes to try.
Some of the standouts included the duck and andouille gumbo, which came with sides of deviled mashed potatoes and rice to add to the gumbo, fried catfish with shrimp and crawfish etouffees, BBQ shrimp Pont Breaux Style, fried green tomatoes with crabmeat imperial sauce, crawfish cornbread with crawfish etouffee, crabmeat stuffed mushrooms and shrimp kidder. Desserts really stood out as well, especially the white chocolate bread pudding and gateau sirop, a Cajun cane sugar syrup cake with pecans.
The food was excellent, but even more fun was chatting with Dickie Breaux and another prominant local, Roy Therriot, who founded a number of technology companies in Breaux Bridge as far back as 1973. They gave us a wonderful sense of what makes Breaux Bridge a very special place.
Dickie Breaux
Roy also brought us to his favorite place for cracklin's, Goula's Grocery, a small store on the outskirts of town. While there, we enjoyed a Cajun French serenade from a local songstress, a fitting cap to a wonderful afternoon.
Roy Therriot buying cracklins' at Goulas Grocery
One doesn't find a restaurant as representative of its place as much as Hawk's very often. Hawk's,located in Rayne, Louisiana and open only five months of the year during crawfish season, is, in their own estimation, "in the middle of nowhere!" While it is not the easiest place to find, it is most certainly located somewhere and that somewhere is in the middle of Louisiana crawfish country. Scott and Tanya Boswell brought us there to fill out our Louisiana experience.
Another hint of how much this restaurant speaks of its place was the spurs on the boots of a number of the regular customers, both male and female. This is a restaurant the locals come to for their crawfish. The room is large, spare and for the most part unadorned. Incongruously for a family oriented restaurant, one must go through the bar to get to the rest rooms. This would not be such a big deal were it not for the sign posted by the entrance to the bar stating "no children allowed."
Needless to say, the draw here is the crawfish, big, plump and flavorful. Unlike most places that purge their crawfish only briefly in salt water, Hawk's does so for up to a full 24 hours using a system developed at Texas A&M and put into place at Hawk's by the late L.H. "Hawk" Arceneaux, who first opened the restaurant in 1983. Previously, the family had farmed crawfish, but soon after the restaurant opened, they put all their energy into that. Many of the crawfish they use still come from the property they once owned, however. The result of their purging efforts, which use clean, local non-chlorinated groundwater, is non-gritty and non-muddy, full flavored crawfish. These crawfish form the basis of their boils, which they offer three ways, mild, hot and with jalapeño. We ordered the hot. These were delectable and addictive. We started with a five pound platter, quickly moved through that and followed it with another. The advantage of ordering them to follow one another is to keep them fresh and hot. The spice mix was just right.
Our 10 y/o son, not knowing what to expect asked for fried crawfish. These were very good too, but the real stars were the boiled ones, something he learned very quickly once they arrived and he tried one. Potatoes and corn were also available a la carte. We stayed away from the potatoes wanting to save precious room, but the corn, served initially too hot to eat, was a delicious and satisfying adjunct to the spicy crawfish.
Bread pudding for dessert also rocked. This place is the real deal, serving great, down home food, albeit a little out of the way for anyone who doesn't actually live in Rayne. I haven't tried enough crawfish boils to say definitively that this is the best there is, but I find it hard to imagine that there could be better or more fun places for it. Open from January until about mid-May (until it gets too hot and the crawfish start burrowing) from Wednesday to Sunday - evenings only.
I first ate at Stella! last fall shortly after I met Chef Scott Boswell at the StarChefs ICC in NYC. We had an incredible meal and subsequently Chef Boswell and I became good friends, a friendship cemented through Twitter of all things. When it came to visiting our son again at Tulane, I also looked forward to spending some time with Chef Boswell and his lovely wife Tanya. Scott and I had talked about fishing for redfish from the time we first met and as the trip grew close we firmed our plans. Scott, my son Andrew and I would fish with a guide with whom Scott had had good luck, Captain Corey. Our experience is documented here and here.
Wild caught redfish are not commercial items. They cannot be sold legally. While it was a lot of fun and a real treat fishing for redfish in the morning, it was an even bigger treat sitting down at Stella! and receiving a specially prepared tasting menu based on those very same redfish, cooked personally by Chef Boswell.
Unfortunately due to school obligations my son, Andrew, couldn't make the dinner, so it was my wife, our youngest son, Michael and myself who sat down at the far left rear corner table in Stella! We were greeted by John Mitchell, the elegant, enthusiastic and knowledgeable sommelier and Nathan Walker and Jenny Trisko, members of Stella's polished service staff, who looked after us for the evening.
Before we started our culinary exploration of redfish, Chef Boswell sent out a couple of amuses. The first, a large oyster with pickled ginger granita and wasabi infused tobiko was sensational. The flavors blended beautifully with the briny oyster's slurpy texture contrasted with the grainy coldness of the granita. I can't say that I have ever had a better prepared oyster dish. It was magnificently paired with the brilliantly balanced 2008 Monchhoff Reisling from Alsace. We were off to a flying start.
The second amuse, Roasted Potato and Parmesan Gnocchi with Iberico Bellota Ham, Morel Mushrooms, Fava Beans and Local Scallions brought heaven to earth. Paired with a Pinot Gris, this was pure, unadulterated decadence, perhaps the single most delicious and perfect dish I have enjoyed so far this year.
Moving on to the redfish dishes, Chef Boswell didn't slacken the pace. The first redfish dish he sent was something neither he nor I had ever had before. Really more of a ceviche due to the presence of mirin, Chef Boswell served us " Redfish sashimi salad, pickled melon and smoked Brittany sea salt" brought together great balance, texture and flavor. The dish was a winner. The redfish was sliced into thin strips and marinated in a yuzu-rich mirin. It also contained some crisped lotus root. Paired with the sashimi was a lovely Hinomaru Jozo "Manabito" Kimoto Junmai Daiginjo sake from Akita, Japan. I don't know as much about sake and the distinctions between them as I would like, but I'm glad John Mitchell does.
The next dish, Spicy tomato curry puree with cumin grilled redfish, crisp pappadam and cucumber, mint and yogurt salad, provided a real challenge to the gnocchi as the best thing I've eaten all year. The flavors were perfect and satisfying. It is difficult enough for any chef to master the flavors and techniques of any single cuisine, but with this dish as well as the Japanese, Italian, French, Korean, Creole and Cajun inflected dishes I've had in this meal and others from Chef Boswell, he has shown an uncanny ability to incorporate some of the very best elements of those cuisines into his own. This is probably the element of his cooking that I find most impressive. It marks his cooking as unique and worldly while also adding touches of the familiar to tie it together and bring it home. Mitchell's choice of Adelaida, "Version" 2007 from Paso Robles worked very well with this dish providing balance to the dish's spiciness.
"Fish and Chips" with Tempura Beer Battered Louisiana redfish with sweet potato puree, curried taro root chips and spicy red chili caramel provided great flavor and texture. It was a lovely dish. The only thing keeping it from perfection was the balance was just a tad too far to the sweet for me. When it comes to savory dishes or even desserts, my preference is to minimize sweetness so that the sugar is not overt. The Kirin Ichiban beer served with it helped mitigate that aspect for me bringing additional harmony.
No redfish dinner would be complete without a course of blackened redfish, the dish made famous by Paul Prudhomme at his K-Paul back in the 1980's. The dish became so popular that it almost wiped out the species. Fortunately, the fish have stocks have recovered sufficiently to allow for fishing as we had just done. I can't imagine a version of blackened redfish better than what Chef Boswell sent out to us. The fish was moist, well spiced, but not overwhelming. Served with jambalaya risotto and lemon tabasco honey butter and paired with 1999 "Viña Gravonia", a unique dry white whine from the Rioja made by R. Lopez de Heredia, this dish was a totally satisfying end to our redfish degustation.
The meal shifted to a Boswell classic, his Delice de Bourgogne Grilled Cheese Sandwich with candied macadamias, powdered pistachio and Captain Crunch Nutella Explosion served with Carlo Boffa Dolcetto d'Alba, Barbaresco from 2007. This dish was playful, fun and delicious, a deserved classic.
Our last course, bananas Foster French Toast with Tahitian Vanilla bean ice cream, spicy candied walnuts and crisp plaintains put the exclamation point on a uniquely New Orleans meal.With it, Mitchell paired what may be the most delicious rum I have ever had, Zaya "Gran Reserva" 12 year old rum from Trinidad. It's vanilla notes worked perfectly with the dessert and on its own. The meal closed with some lovely mignardises.
This was truly a unique, one of a kind meal - one of the more memorable ones of my life. First, catching the fish (fish otherwise commercially unobtainable) on a beautiful day, second having my friend, the chef and co-fisherman cook the fish beautifully and deliciously and third sharing it with my wife and youngest son all contributed to making it extra-special. Indeed, watching our ten year old enjoy every aspect of the meal as much as he did was as much fun as anything. I was proud of the way that he hung in and tried and enjoyed everything. His favorite dish was the grilled redfish in the tomato Curry Puree, something I wouldn't have predicted beforehand. I suspect that this will be a seminal meal in his life as well.
Full disclosure: We were not charged for the meal. I did, however, leave a significant gratuity for the superb service received.
Once back on shore, Capt Corey filleted the fish using a heavy duty electric knife. By this time a number of the fish already had rigor mortis. Capt. Corey did his job very efficiently. The fillets were placed back on ice to be brought back to the restaurant Stella!, where Chef Boswell's staff would finish the prep.
He started with a cut down behind the gills and than back to the tail along the spine. Apparently it is difficult to cook these fish whole as they are difficult to scale.
This partially digested small crab was discovered in the stomach of one of the fish. Redfish are voracious feeders and apparently will eat just about anything. Like for me, crabs are one of their favorite things to eat. Captain Corey inspects the stomachs to get a better understanding of what the fish are eating and thus where to fish for them.
Unfortunately there was a lot of waste product. It would have been nice to have seen the rest of the fish put to good use too.
Captain Corey trims the peritoneal membrane from the fillet.
Next: Redfish #3: Dinner
I had the pleasure of fishing for redfish in the Louisiana marshes with Chef Scott Boswell, my son Andrew and our guide Captain Corey. My understanding is that linefishing is the only legal way to get redfish and that they are not available for commercial use. The limit per day is five per person. We went out bright and early on a spectacularly beautiful day. We used shrimp as bait followed by trolling with spinners. The latter was the more successful approach. Chef Boswell caught the most. We finished before we might have as we had to get my son back to a class at Tulane. The morning spent fishing was a blast!
Sports fans do a lot of little things to show their support and maybe add a little positive mojo for their team. I'm no different. Rooting hard for the New Orleans Saints in last Sunday's Super Bowl, I added a little touch of Louisiana to our dinner – tasso from Savoie's, which had been sent to me by a very good friend in New Orleans. I cooked it along with garlic, supple sun-dried tomatoes (freshly made and purchased at DiPalo's in NYC a few days earlier), parsley, Parmiggiano and cream and tossed it with pasta for a delicious and satisfying dish. The tasso added nice smoke and porkiness to the dish that was balanced by the sweetness and acidity of the tomatoes, the salty umami of the Parmiggiano and the lushness of the cream. That, good wine and a wonderful dessert made by our good friend, Amy, made for a lovely dinner. The dinner, company and the Saints winning made for an exceptional evening. I would like to think that using that tasso mojo had just a little to do with it.
Fresh peanuts from Mississippi, purchased in New Orleans at the Crescent City Farmers Market and brought home to New York, were fried in olive oil and salted per a recipe in The Fanny Farmer Cookbook. These wonderful peanuts, unlike anything in a can or a jar, were a revelation. They made an otherwise very good, home-cooked Pad Thai into an outstanding one and were quite delicious on their own.
Frying chicken in a special recipe batter at Willie Mae's Scotch House in New Orleans the same way that it has been done for years. Delicious!
I'm a practicing Anesthesiologist and family man who enjoys all things culinary.
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