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June 15, 2005
Seafood Hitting its Peak: From crab to salmon, now's the time to bite
'Tis the season to eat out.
Soft-shell crabs have begun to make their yearly appearance here, which is always an occasion for rejoicing in our house. I first made the acquaintance of these wonderful crisp, soft crustaceans in New York, where you could buy them at the fish shops on Ninth Avenue opposite the Port Authority for, if I remember rightly, about a dollar each. They were not only delicious, they were a bargain- a great meal for a freelance writer in Manhattan.
Nowadays they're rather more expensive, but worth it. The sweet softness of the flesh and the crunch of the claws as you bite through them is a taste and texture sensation that can't be beaten.
On local menus
Pierre Pelech added them to his specials menu at Chez Pierre last week,
and
Pacifica Sea Food Restaurant will be introducing them this week. The season
is comparatively short: it generally runs from May to July. Considering
that blue crabs have to be caught just after they molt, and are considered
usable for only about four hours before their shells begin to harden again,
it seems extraordinary that the season lasts even that long. (Mangrove
crabs from Asia are available all year round but it is the blue crab that
is prized here.)
Salmon worth a try
Wild salmon is also available right now, which makes perusing the fish
menu particularly delightful. Wild salmon are at their best- muscled
and fat- just at the point that they reach the mouth of their home river,
ready for the swim upstream to spawn.
That is where and when the commercial fishermen catch them and that season only lasts a short time, too. There is a great deal to be said for farmed salmon at its best, but the gamier flavor and firmer texture of wild salmon give it a special desirability.
At nature's mercy
In a culinary world where global resources make most things available
year round, there's an extra thrill about eating something you can only
get briefly.
What other fish are seasonal, I asked Brent Pollock, the executive chef of Pacifica Seafood Restaurant.
For most fish, he said, it isn't so much a matter of the fish's season as the fishermen's.
When they go out is what dictates the availability of particular fish.
"They're farming the sea," he said, "and they're at the mercy of nature."
He appreciates the vagaries of that mercy- when he was living and working in the Bay area he became friends with fishermen and he saw firsthand the hardships of their working lives.
"The guy I knew in Half Moon Bay- his father had fallen in and had to be pulled out of the sea."
Fishermen take risks
Alaskan King Crab fishermen, in particular, put themselves at risk.
"That has to be the most dangerous job in the world," he said. "They go out in the stormy weather!"
When he was working in Northern California, he would visit the fishermen and see his fish face to face before he bought; now he orders from Leong-Kuba Seap Products, the prime supplier to Pacifica restaurants for the past 24 years. He may not see the fish eye to eye in advance but the advantage is that he has a wider range of choice.
The supplier, he pointed out, "has deeper pockets and longer fingers."
Quality and price change
Some fish, like halibut, may never actually be unavailable, but they do
alter seasonally; in the summer they swim in deeper, colder waters, and
the quality and price both change.
So sometimes Pollock doesn't order halibut, because it doesn't meet his standards on either front. Right now it's on the menu, seared with braised applewood bacon, spring vegetables and saffron aioli, but he isn't sure how long that will last.
Summer delights
Not that its departure will mean a depleted choice. For summer he has
actually added to the menu- a special treat for him and his customers
that is made possible by the slightly slower pace.
Among the additions is the grilled wild king salmon with an heirloom tomato salad: a sort of homage to seasonality.
He has also added some new and lighter appetizers.
"If I eat out, I like to pick two or three or four things," he said. That's why he has added a Peruvian style ceviche in addition to his seared salmon ceviche.
He's also included seared sea scallops in a green curry sauce, with a mango salad, an ahi tuna sashimi, a gazpacho, an ahi salad, and a summer watermelon salad with feta cheese, a brilliant invention that's calculated to make anybody's palate sparkle.
In addition to the wild salmon on the entree list, he's also introduced two other new entrees: short ribs and tilapia.
And new desserts- the depth of flavor in the lemon-berry semifreddo lingers happily on the tongue.
Even if you don't choose the fish that's in season right now, it's a great season to eat out.
