When traveling for work or pleasure I try to enjoy a little of the local culture, including meeting up with local yocals to see what kind of Tom Foolery I can get into between meetings and work. Fortunately, after traveling 1000's of miles over the years you begin to have a great network of incredible folks that are just weird enough to enjoy the same things that you do. For example, this trip to CT a few years back where your buddy has this great fishing boat and his folks live right on the harbor in Stonington for easy water access.
After several days of meetings we were ready for a little break late one afternoon. We headed out and got started by gathering a huge bucket full of clams which took no time at all. There is something about warm salt water sticking on your face in the late afternoon that brings back some of my favorite childhood memories. Plus, anytime I get to repeatedly dive off the boat, I'm in. You begin by digging your fingers and then toes into the sand so you could find the clam beds. As soon as you locate the clams, you hold your ground, waves and all, and yell for the person working the big clam basket rake thingy. This rake came in real handy because some of the clams where huge and would dig down and hold into the sand for dear life, but they were no match for Danielle. The bucket was full of clams in which we moved to catching blue fish. I really wanted fresh scallops but it was way too early before the season begins to even see any scallops. Plus, when the Bluefish are hitting the top of the water it's a HOOT. (literally and figuratively)
We needed to catch around 3-4 of these beasts.
FISH ON!
One after the other we were landing the blue fish into the boat. We hit a school as soon as we got around the point looking over to NYC. This was beginning to be a great afternoon especially because we had been talking about "if" we have some extra time one afternoon we would head out to grab some fresh local seafood and spend some time cooking and telling fisherman tales. As we landed the last couple of blue fish we began heading towards the lobster pots. I know very little about the harvesting of lobsters, but I couldn't help notice all of the fancy colored art work on the buoys as we headed out from the harbor. So, I couldn't help but ask "what's with all of the artwork on the buoys?" Our captain (my buddy Tom) explained that if you have a license for lobster pots you have to create your own color buoys and the buoy must be on your boat of you are checking you pots. After locating the first couple of pots we were on another hot streak because we were already approaching the number of lobsters we need for dinner but I wanted a few extra just to make sure. You never know who will show up for dinner when you are in a smal fishing village and sorry but this is no time to share if you only have a few, so we grabbed a couple more traps and a good thing we did because nieghbors began to show up quickly once they learned Tom had been fishing and was now cooking.
The sun was beginning to set and all I could think about was eating our catch of the day. Tom is even a better Chef and Baker than a seaworthy fisherman. Tom makes an incredible seafood chowder and this begins with a great broth. He made the broth by adding the clams, local shrimp, lobster and fresh fennel from the garden. This gives you some serious eats. Then, we simply steamed the lobsters, melted some butter and grabbed some crusty Italian bread and ate for as long as we could stand it.
After several days of meetings we were ready for a little break late one afternoon. We headed out and got started by gathering a huge bucket full of clams which took no time at all. There is something about warm salt water sticking on your face in the late afternoon that brings back some of my favorite childhood memories. Plus, anytime I get to repeatedly dive off the boat, I'm in. You begin by digging your fingers and then toes into the sand so you could find the clam beds. As soon as you locate the clams, you hold your ground, waves and all, and yell for the person working the big clam basket rake thingy. This rake came in real handy because some of the clams where huge and would dig down and hold into the sand for dear life, but they were no match for Danielle. The bucket was full of clams in which we moved to catching blue fish. I really wanted fresh scallops but it was way too early before the season begins to even see any scallops. Plus, when the Bluefish are hitting the top of the water it's a HOOT. (literally and figuratively)
We needed to catch around 3-4 of these beasts.
FISH ON!
One after the other we were landing the blue fish into the boat. We hit a school as soon as we got around the point looking over to NYC. This was beginning to be a great afternoon especially because we had been talking about "if" we have some extra time one afternoon we would head out to grab some fresh local seafood and spend some time cooking and telling fisherman tales. As we landed the last couple of blue fish we began heading towards the lobster pots. I know very little about the harvesting of lobsters, but I couldn't help notice all of the fancy colored art work on the buoys as we headed out from the harbor. So, I couldn't help but ask "what's with all of the artwork on the buoys?" Our captain (my buddy Tom) explained that if you have a license for lobster pots you have to create your own color buoys and the buoy must be on your boat of you are checking you pots. After locating the first couple of pots we were on another hot streak because we were already approaching the number of lobsters we need for dinner but I wanted a few extra just to make sure. You never know who will show up for dinner when you are in a smal fishing village and sorry but this is no time to share if you only have a few, so we grabbed a couple more traps and a good thing we did because nieghbors began to show up quickly once they learned Tom had been fishing and was now cooking.
The sun was beginning to set and all I could think about was eating our catch of the day. Tom is even a better Chef and Baker than a seaworthy fisherman. Tom makes an incredible seafood chowder and this begins with a great broth. He made the broth by adding the clams, local shrimp, lobster and fresh fennel from the garden. This gives you some serious eats. Then, we simply steamed the lobsters, melted some butter and grabbed some crusty Italian bread and ate for as long as we could stand it.
There are few things in life as good as fresh caught seafood. Add gathering, harvesting and fishing for your own dinner with folks you love equals memories of a life time. And this is the exact way one should live their life - filled full of great memories. Build the memories now for life is way too short to eat shitty seafood.
Be Well Eat Well & Live Well
