The Blue Cat Apocalpyse

Blue Catfish. They are the prototypical invasive species with an all too common origin story. The fish  were introduced into local waterways back in the 1970s. The waterways included the James River, York River and Rappahannock Rivers.  The introduction was meant to create a sports fishing scene for anglers who wanted a good fight when they fished. They achieved their objective, but at a devastating cost that is still unfolding to this day.

Blue catfish are apex predators, and, they quickly took over the local ecosystems. However, unlike most catfish, which are bottom feeders, blue catfish pursue prey at all levels of the water column. That "prey" includes just about anything and everything.  The fish eat vegetation, but they also go after blue crabs, clams, mussels, and other fish (like perch, menhaden, and striped bass). Blue catfish also hunt and eat turtles, muskrats and, as reported on one occasion, and entire wood duck. These catfish also eat between 8% and 9% of their mass everyday. The result is that blue catfish populations have eclipsed the populations of other species.

This has taken place not just in the original three Virginian waterways, but elsewhere across the Chesapeake Bay. The blue catfish have made their ways into Maryland waterways, where, in some areas, they comprise nearly 70% of the biomass in those waters.  And, the blue catfish are wreaking havoc on native species, including, as noted above, the iconic blue crab and the striped bass.

To make matters worse, as an apex predator, the blue catfish has a very high perch on the food chain. Only raptors, like bald eagles and ospreys, constitute predators of blue catfish. And, then of course, there are humans. In recent years, people have started initiatives to curb the blue catfish population. One such way has been through promoting the consumption of blue catfish caught in the Chesapeake Bay. This got me to thinking about my favorite catfish dishes that I have prepared. While some of these involve regular catfish, all of them can be made with blue catfish. 

MY FAVORITE CATFISH RECIPE (AS OF RIGHT NOW): 

CAMBODIAN GINGER FISH

Recipe from AllRecipes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 pound peeled, matchstick-cut fresh ginger

4 catfish fillets (about 4 ounces each)

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 large yellow onion, sliced

1/4 red bell pepper, cut in thin matchsticks

1/2 bunch green onions, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

Directions:

1. Prepare the fish. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook and stir ginger in the hot oil until slightly softened and brown, 5 to 7 minutes.  Add catfish fillets, cook until firm, about 3 minutes per side.  Remove fillets from the skillet to a plate and set aside.  

2.  Finish the dish.  Stir fish sauce, soy sauce, and oyster sauce together in the skillet.  Add onion and red bell pepper.  Cook and stir until softened, about 4 minutes.  Return catfish fillets to the skillet and spoon sauce and vegetables over the fillets.  Continue cooking until the flesh of the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 3 minutes more.  Garnish with green onions and serve immediately. 

OTHER GREAT RECIPES TO TRY

If you are looking for other ways to taken down an apex predator like the blue catfish, I would suggest the following recipes: 

Catfish Curry: This recipe is a Chef Bolek original. I began buying "catfish nuggets" at my local grocery store because they were cheap and I like catfish (nuggets are the pieces left over after the fish has been filleted). This recipe draws inspiration from the southeastern Asian curries that I have made over the years. 

Catfish Milanese: A classic Milanese is made with veal, but there are versions that use chicken. Why not use catfish, which not only has a texture that works well with the recipe but a long history of being fried and served on its own. This recipe dates back to 2015, when I first noted the problem of blue catfish in the Chesapeake Bay.

Blackened Catfish with Maque Choux: This is a very close second to my most favorite catfish dish. I strongly prefer blackened catfish over fried catfish and the maque choux - a dish that incorporates corn, green peppers, onions and tomatoes - is a great accompaniment to this dish. 

General Tso's Catfish: If I have said it once, I have said it many times, "a general cannot live on chicken alone." This dish substitutes the catfish for the fowl that it would most certainly eat if it had the chance. The texture of blue catfish would work even better than regular catfish in this recipe.

There you have it ... a few ways that you can help cull the blue catfish population wherever it is taking over the waterways. 

One last note: if you happen to have blue catfish to prepare, just keep in mind that there may be some advisories with respect to consumption of the fish. Those advisories depend upon where the fish was caught. For example, if the fish is caught in a river such as the Potomac, or even in the Chesapeake Bay, the fish have been found to possess elevated levels of PCBs. For that reason, authorities suggest that, at most, you limit your consumption of such fish to no more than four times a month, and to fish that measure between 15 inches and 24 inches. These limits are stricter for certain populations like children. 

Until next time ...

PEACE.

The Super Pigs are Coming

An invasion threat looms over the United States. The threat is not the one that right wing politicians and their media mouthpieces have been fomenting at the border with Mexico. Instead, it is one that scientists and others have been warning about at the border with Canada. It is not an invasion of people and their families trying to seek a better, safer life. It is an invasion of pigs seeking out more to eat. 

And it is not just any pigs, but super pigs. Pigs that had been cross-bred with wild boars. Canadian farmers introduced the cross-bred pigs in the 1980s. They sought to make a sturdier pig that could do better in Canadian winters. When the market price plunged for boar and pig meat in the early 2000s, the farmers began to release the pigs into the wild. The farmers thought the pigs would not survive the Canadian winters, which is a crazy thought given the whole purpose was to breed a pig who could survive the snow and cold temperatures. And, in fact, the pigs did survive and thrive. 

Now, there are super pigs roaming the Canadian prairie. Lots of furry animals that can reach weights of more than 500 pounds. (That is more than twice the size of feral pigs currently found in the United States.) Large animals that are highly intelligent and that have an appetite that includes just about everything. The menu includes not only domesticated crops, which they root up and destroy, but other animals ranging from small mice to even whitetail deer, as well as everything in between. And, if all of that was not enough to set off alarms, these large, furry omnivores also reproduce at a high rate. It is estimated that, even if 65% of the pigs were killed on a yearly basis, they could still see their population increase. Wherever these super pigs go, they are sure to alter the local ecosystem in negative ways.

Up to now, the pigs have been roaming (and ravaging) the Canadian countryside in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. However, scientists and government officials now believe that the range of the super pigs will extend to the northern United States. They expect the super pigs to cross into Minnesota, Montana, and North Dakota.  Those areas have the ideal habitat for the pigs, which is a mix of wetlands, decidious forests and cropland.

So, I figured that we could greet the pigs with some of my favorite pork recipes that I have made over the years. My favorite recipe is the following one from the Yucatan peninsula. 

MY FAVORITE PORK RECIPE (AS OF RIGHT NOW): 

COCHINITA PIBIL

Recipe adapted from Glebe Kitchen

Serves several

Ingredients (for the marinade):

• 8 cloves unpeeled garlic
• juice of 2 medium oranges
• juice of 2 large limes
• 3 ounces achiote paste
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup white vinegar

Ingredients (for the pork):

• 4 pounds of boneless pork shoulder
• chunks of oak wood (for the smoker)
• Banana leaves (or parchment paper)
• Foil pan

Ingredients (for the pickled onions):

• 2 red onions, sliced about 1/8 inch thick
• 2 cloves garlic, cut in half
• 1 1/4 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 clove
• 5 allspice berries, whole
• 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Ingredients (for the presentation):

• Corn tortillas
• Pico de gallo

Directions:

1. Prepare the pork.  Roast the garlic in their skins. Use a small cast iron frying pan over medium heat and toast them until they blacken slightly and soften. This takes about 3-5 minutes. Peel the garlic. Combine the peeled, softened garlic with the lime and orange juice, achiote paste, and salt in a blender and blend thoroughly. Check to ensure that the achiote paste is broken up. Add the marinade to the pork and ensure that all sides of the meat are covered by the marinade. Marinate for two to four hours.

2. Prepare the smoker. Prepare the smoker to reach a temperature of about 275 degrees to 300 degrees. Soak the chunks of oak wood for about 1 hour in water.

3. Prepare the pickled onions. Combine all of the ingredients except the onions in a pot and bring that pot to a boil. Add the onions and boil for one minute. Remove from the heat and let cool, stirring occasionally. Store in a sealed jar in the refrigerator. Let the onions rest for at least 4 hours before using.

4. Prepare the pork for the smoker. Typically, the pork is wrapped in banana leaves; however, I did not have access to those leaves. However, I used four pieces of parchment. Scrunch one piece of parchment to form a receptacle for the pork along with the marinade. (The goal is for the pork to be steamed with the marinade while it is smoked.) Take a second piece and cover the pork wrapping it around the pork. Place the pork in an aluminum pan. Place the pan in the smoker and smoke for about 3 to 4 hours or until the pork reaches 190 or 195 degrees Fahrenheit.

5. Continue to prepare the pork. After removing the pork from the smoker, let it rest for 20 minutes. Remove the pork from the parchment packets but keep the marinade and juices. Use a fat separator to separate the fat. shred the pork with two forks and then mix the juice back into the meat. 

6. Finish the dish. Serve with corn tortillas, pico de gallo and the pickled onions.

OTHER GREAT RECIPES TO TRY

If you are looking for other ways to cull an invading population of super pigs, I would suggest the following recipes: 

Chargrilled Hmong Black Pig Skewers with Sesame Salt: This recipe, which comes from the Hmong communities in the hills of Vietnam and Laos, brings together a great balance of flavors that includes lemongrass, fish sauce, oyster sauce, honey and sesame.   

Wesley Jones' Barbecue: This recipe is a trip back in time to explore the origins of barbecue, which lies with the experience and expertise of enslaved Africans on plantations across the southern United States. This particular recipe represents the earliest recorded explanation of how barbecue was prepared. 

Free State Smoked Pork Shoulder: This recipe comes from my Project Maryland BBQ series, in which I explored what a barbecue style would look like if Maryland had its own style like the Carolinas or Texas. This smoked pork would pair well with the Maryland-style barbecue sauce (that includes Old Bay).

Carne Avovada: This recipe is a treasure of New Mexican cuisine. It incorporates ingredients that I use all the time, such as chiles, and ones that I had not used at all until then, like brewed coffee. The resulting dish is one full of rich, deep flavors that one can enjoy time and again.

Kangchu Maroo: If the goal is to cull pig populations, we should do so in a conscious manner, utilizing as much of the pigs as possible. I made this recipe as part of my Around the World in 80 Dishes challenge. It incorporates pig trotters into a curry served in Bhutan that was surprisingly delicious. 

There are many other pork recipes to try on this blog. Just check out What is in My Fridge and Pantry to the right of this blog and click on "Pork" for all of those recipes. Until next time ...

PEACE.

The Uyghur Connection

The People's Republic of China is the world's largest seafood producer, producing over sixty-seven million metric tons (67 MMT) of seafood per year, which includes more than twenty million metric tons of processed seafood. Much of that production comes from aquaculture, the domestic cultivation of fish, shrimp and other crustaceans, with wild caught seafood in decline. 

China also has a very sizeable seafood processing industry. There are approximately 9,202 seafood processing facilities, mostly in the coastal provinces of Shandong, Fujian, Liaoning, Zhejiang and Guangdong. The largest export markets for Chinese seafood are, in order of size, (1) Japan; (2) the United States; and (3) Thailand. The exports principally consist of processed seafood products. The magnitude of the exports is also staggering.  For example, it is estimated that half of the fish sticks served in American public schools were processed in China. 

Yet, in recent weeks and months, additional light has been shed on some of the workers who process seafood in Chinese facilities for both domestic and foreign markets. The revelations expose, at least for me, some of crueler dimensions of the Chinese government's ongoing persecution of the Uyghur people. This is a story of how a people, whose home can be found in a landlocked region, end along the coastline, processing seafood.

I have previously discussed China's persecution of the Uyghur people. Those discussions can be found here, here and here.  This persecution is best described by Anthropologist Adrian Zenz as a "strategy of control and assimilation ... designed to eliminate the Uyghur culture." 

One major component of this strategy is a forced labor program in which the Chinese Government forcibly transfers Uyghurs across the country to work in various industries. One of those industries, as it is being reported, is the seafood industry. In recent weeks and months, new light has been shed on some of the workers who process the seafood in China for both domestic and foreign markets. These revelations expose even crueler dimensions to the ongoing persecution of the Uyghur people.  

Investigative journalists have been chronicling this persecution and forced labor. One very good resource is The Outlaw Ocean. Investigators for the Outlaw Ocean have followed Chinese seafood vessels around the world, from the waters of North Korea to the waters off of The Gambia and then to the waters off the Falkland Islands and Galapagos Islands. Their method of communication with the crew involved throwing plastic bottles with handwritten questions (in Chinese, Indonesian and English) onto the seafood vessels. Surprisingly, the investigators received some answers. Those answers revealed abuses such as debt bondage, wage withholding, excessive working hours, forced labor, beating of crew members, confiscation of passports, prohibiting medical care and death.

Once the food made it back to the mainland for processing, The Outlaw Ocean tracked the food to a processing plant in the Shandong province, where they found forced labor working to process the catch. The forced labor consisted of Uyghurs who had been sent to work there. The forced transportation of Uyghurs has been part of what China has called as "Uyghur Aid." The communist government claims that the program is to promote "full employment" and "ethnic interaction, exchange and blending. The actual purpose is the forced assimilation of Uyghurs through forced labor. The program is "door-to-door," with Uyghurs being "delivered from the collection points in Xinjiang to the factory." 

The United States enacted the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act ("UFLPA") in 2021, which requires the United States Customs and Border Protection ("CPB")  to block the import of goods produced with the forced labor of Uyghurs and other minorities. Over the past two years, CPB has seized over a billion dollars worth of goods, ranging from cotton to solar panels. However, most of those goods originate in Xinjiang or East Turkestan, making it easy to seize. 

By contrast, the production of seafood, as noted above, takes place along the coast, as opposed to a landlocked province like Xinjiang. By putting Uyghurs on trains and transporting them to a location that is thousands of miles away, China is able to evade many of the eyes watching for forced labor. 

As a result, seafood processed with forced labor has made its way into the markets of the United States and Europe. According to the Outlaw Ocean and other media sources (like Politico):

• Over $50 million of salmon from plants in China that used Uyghur labor went to federally funded soup kitchens and programs to feed low-income elderly people;
• Another $20 million of pollock (that is, fish sticks), was shipped to the National School Lunch Program and other federal assistance programs; 
• Another $140 million of cod, salmon and halibut was delivered to U.S. military bases domestically and abroad. 

Those are just a few examples of how seafood processed with forced Uyghur labor has made its way into the American market. There are probably more given that at least ten large seafood companies in China have used over one thousand Uyghur workers since 2018.

There is a lot more than can be said on this issue and I may have more to say in the future. While I would ordinarily end one of these posts with my favorite recipes, it doesn't seem appropriate here. Instead, a word of advice ... try hard to determine the source of the seafood that you buy in the market. If it comes from China, buy something else. 

Until next time ...

PEACE.

When Oysters Can't Sleep

This appears to be the reason why oysters found in deep water are rather small; darkness hinders their growth, and their gloom robs them of appetite.

-- Pliny the Elder 

Pliny's words may hold true for oysters that find themselves in the deep depths of water; but, what if oysters find themselves in a world of light. Does that mean that they will thrive and grow to be big and plump? Put another way, what if oysters are exposed to too much light? What happens in that case?

Those questions were tackled by researchers from the University of Bordeaux. Those researchers - Audrey Botte, Laura Payton and Damien Tran - published a study in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. The researchers kept oysters in several tanks. They turned up the lights slowly to simulate the rising sun and then kept the lights on as if it were daytime. They turned down the lights as the sun would set, but they did not turn them down all the way. Instead, they left a dim glow, which was supposed to simulate artificial light at night. After they concluded their study, they published their findings: 

Our results showed that ALAN [artificial light at night] disrupts the oyster's daily rhythm by increasing valve activity and annihilating day/night differences of expression of circadian clock and clock-associated genes.

So, too much light -- or too much continuous light -- has a negative effect upon oysters.  The following graphic also demonstrates the researcher's findings:

Put simply, light pollution - especially light produced by cities during the night time - has an effect upon the daily lives of oysters. The impact upon the oysters' biological rhythms affects the bivalves' genes. Those genes are what turn on oysters during the day and turn them off at night. But, if there is continuous light, the oysters do not turn off. They don't sleep. They have insomnia. 

The effects of insomnia upon people are well researched and documented. Generally, according to the Mayo Clinic, insomnia can cause physical, mental and emotional complications. People are less effective at what they do. One can surmise that insomnia could have equivalent effects upon oysters - making them less effective at what they do and perhaps even affecting how their internal systems operate.  For people, the solution involves, in part, improvement in sleeping habits. Perhaps for oysters, the solution lies in improving their sleeping habits. That means turning off the lights. 

All of the discussion of oysters got me to thinking about my favorite oyster recipes. If I had to choose one recipe that, to date, is my favorite oyster recipe, it would be the following one. There is something about oysters and gazpacho that is the perfect combination, at least in my humble opinion.

MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE OYSTER RECIPE

ANDALUSIAN-INSPIRED OYSTER SHOOTERS

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 pint of shucked oysters or 24 oysters shucked with liqueur reserved
• 1 1/2 pounds of tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cucumber, skinned, seeded, diced
• 1/2 jalapeno, skinned, seeded and diced
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
• 1 bunch of scallions, white parts and green parts thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup water
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Prepare the "gazpacho."  Place the tomatoes, bell pepper, cucumber, white wine vinegar, and jalapeno in a blender.  Blend until the ingredients are liquified.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 

2.  Prepare the oysters.  If you buy a pint of oysters, remove the oysters and strain the liquid through cheesecloth.  If you bought the oysters, shuck the oysters and reserve the liqueur.

3.  Finish the dish.  Stir the oyster liqueur into the "gazpacho."  Place 1 or 2 oysters in the bottom of a shot glass, and 1-2 tablespoons of the "gazpacho."  Garnish with the scallions.  Serve immediately.

OTHER DELICIOUS OYSTER DISHES TO TRY

If you are looking for other dishes that will make oysters lie awake at night, here are some recipes that I strongly recommend: 

Vietnamese Grilled Oysters: This recipe presents grilled oysters with a topping that incorporates a perfect balance of the five tastes: spice, sour, salty, bitter and sweet.The chiles provided the spice. Lime juice perhaps contributes the sour or bitter flavors. Fish sauce definitely imbues a salty umami flavor and there can be no dispute that honey adds sweetness to the dish. 

Oyster Ceviche: This recipe allows one to "cook" oysters in a different way, through the chemical reaction caused by the oysters marinating in citrus juice. That chemical reaction is also the common method of preparing ceviche, which is a well known dish throughout Latin America.

Oyster Shooters with Tomato, Lime and Chiles: I called this recipe ever invented. That was back in 2017, which was one year before I discovered my Andalusian-Inspired Oyster Shooters recipe. Still, the combination of tomatoes, limes and chiles works well for a non-alcoholic oyster shooter. 

Oysters Rockefeller: No list of oyster dishes would seemingly be complete without a reference to Oysters Rockefeller. The dish that originated in New Orleans and whose original recipe is still a closely guarded secret. My first attempt at the dish was not bad, but the end result was very tasty.

These are just some of the oyster recipes on this blog. If you want to see the other posts, just click on "Oysters" in the word cloud in "What's in my Fridge + Pantry." Until next time,

PEACE. 

The Long History Told by Bones

Salmon are an intrinsic part of us. They're in our blood. They're in our being.

- Hereditary Chief Don Svanvik, 

Namgis First Nation, 

Alert Bay, British Columbia

Recently, an online article caught my eye. The article's title was "Salmon Bones Confirm Sustainable Chum Fishery for 2,500 Years Under Tsleil-Waututh Nation."  That title represented a ray of light, a little bit of good news, that brightened what is becoming an otherwise dark picture.

It seems - to me at least - that much about what I have been reading about Pacific salmon has ranged from bad to ominous. This sense seems particularly the case for the salmon in the Pacific Northwest.  For example, a report in 2019 found that, while the preliminary forecasts for chum salmon in the Puget Sound hovered around 550,000 fish, the actual amount may have been more along the lines of 243,000 fish. That statistic is particularly alarming given that the chum salmon has traditionally been the most abundant of all the different types of salmon. 

There are many reasons for the population declines. At first, the culprit was overfishing in the 19th and 20th centuries. The loss in fish numbers was compounded by the loss of their habitat, which was primarily due to the construction of dams that blocked the rivers used by the salmon, along with the timber industry, which damaged the rivers and streams.  And then there is climate change and, in particular, the warming of the Pacific Ocean. As it turns out, just a few degrees of increased temperatures can have a significant impact on salmon populations. As the oceans warm, it favors subtropical zooplankton, which are not eaten by juvenile salmon. Warmer water also has less oxygen, making it harder for the fish to breath.

Yet, this is all the bad news; and, I started out this post noting a ray of light. Research has shown that one of the Salish peoples of the Pacific Northwest - the Tsleil-Waututh - have a long history of managing the chum salmon populations where they live. The story actually explains that the Tsleil-Waututh have a much longer history of managing that important resource.

Archeologists had already known that the Tsleil-Waututh, who live in the Burraud tribal territory, have been sustainably fishing chum salmon for about 1,200 years, from approximately 400 BCE to 1200 A.D. However, recent finds at an archeological site at təmtəmíxʷtən, a very important site for the Tseleil-Waututh, have revealed that this fishery has existed for an additional 1,300 years. This history is important because of one fact: chum salmon are especially vulnerable to overfishing. 

This story has led me to think about how we develop our guidelines for sustainability. Often times, those guidelines are dictated from the top down, from the government to the people, with a healthy disdain for guidelines coming from the reverse direction. As long as people are motivated by capitalistic desires, such as the private ownership of resources and maximizing profit for personal gain, that disdain is warranted. But, what if the people are motivated by something else. What if, like the Tsleil-Waututh, the people are motivated by preserving the resources for future generations to enjoy. Resources that are able to thrive in a larger, more balanced ecosystem. 

All of the foregoing also got me thinking about the salmon recipes that I have made over the years. This is perhaps my most favorite recipe on my blog: 

COPPER RIVER SALMON WITH AN ORANGE-SAFFRON SAUCE

Adapted from recipe by Hunter Angler Gardener Cook

Serves 4

Ingredients for the Orange-Saffron Sauce:

1/2 cup of white wine

1/2 cup orange juice

A healthy pinch of saffron, crumbled

A healthy pinch of sugar

1 shallot, minced
Salt
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

Ingredients (for the fish and greens):
1 1/2 pounds of tender spring greens, such as spinach
5 tablespoons of unsalted butter or vegetable oil, divided
A splash of water (no more than 3 tablespoons)
Grated zest of an orange
1 1/2 pounds of Copper River Salmon (or any wild salmon)

Directions:

1.  Make the Orange-Saffron Sauce.  Make the sauce by bringing the white wine, orange juice, saffron, sugar and shallot to a boil in a small pot.  Simmer strongly for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and puree the sauce in a blender.  Return the sauce to the pot and turn the heat to low.  Add salt to taste and keep warm, but do not boil it or simmer it any further.

2.  Make the Greens.  Cook the greens in 2 tablespoons of butter or oil over high heat in a large saute pan, stirring constantly until they wilt. Add a splash of water, the orange zest and some salt and cover the pot. Lower the heat to medium-low and steam the greens for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat.

3.  Sear the salmon.  Heat the remaining butter in a pan large enough to hold the fish.  (If you don’t have such a pan, put a baking sheet in the oven and set the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit so you can keep the fish warm as you do this in batches.)  Heat the butter over high heat until it stops frothing. Pat the fish dry with paper towels and set it skin-side down in the hot butter. Turn the heat down to medium-high for a typical fillet  or to medium if you are working with a thicker piece of fish.

4.  Continue cooking the salmon.  Let the fish cook undisturbed for 2 minutes, then use a large spoon to baste the meat side of the fish with the hot butter. Baste the salmon for 90 seconds, then give it a rest. A thin fillet will only need one quick basting, but thicker pieces of fish will need a second or even third round of basting.  It took about four to five rounds of basting for the fillets that I had.  When the basting is done, salt the meat side. The skin side should lift off the pan easily after about 4 to 5 minutes of steady cooking. The moment you take the fish off the heat, salt the skin side.

5.  Finish the dish.  To serve, swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into the sauce, one tablespoon at a time. Pour some sauce on everyone’s plate. Top with the greens and then with a piece of fish. Serve immediately.

OTHER DELICIOUS SALMON RECIPES TO TRY

If you are looking for other recipes to honor the salmon and its place in the foodways of different cultures, or if you are just looking for a delicious recipe, I suggest these possibilities:

Smoked Sockeye Salmon: This is about as close as I can get to trying to pay homage to how Native Americans and First Nations would prepare their catches. You can check out the post and learn about the Legend of the Lost Salmon. This is one of the recipes that I wish I made more often, if only I had the time and the memory to remind myself. 

"Imperial" King Salmon: This dish features king salmon grilled on an alder plank. It also features a crab imperial over the top. The imperial literally places this dish over the top. 

Cedar Plank Salmon: This recipe was truly an educational experience for me. The "smothering" of the salmon with onions serves an important purpose. The water in the onions help to keep the salmon moist.

Pike's Place Salmon Burgers: The final recipe comes from one of my Super Bowl parties, when I prepared a dish from the city of one of the Super Bowl contenders. Back in 2014, that contender was the Seattle Seahawks. So, I prepared a salmon burger recipe that comes from the city's iconic Pike's Place market. 

These are just some of the salmon recipes on this blog. If you want to see the other posts, just click on "Salmon" in the word cloud in "What's in my Fridge + Pantry." Until next time, 

ENJOY!

Defending Against the Blue Crab Invasion

If you find your waters have been invaded by blue crabs, do what we do and soon they will be an endangered species.

- Anonymous

I have found myself intrigued by the recent stories about how blue crabs have invaded the waters of the Mediterranean sea. Having lived near the waters of the Chesapeake Bay for decades, I am very familiar with the small, bluish-green crustacean.

For a period spanning three summers, I worked at a crab house. My principal responsibility was to stuff crab pots for steaming. Each pot was stuffed with a particular size of crab: small, medium, large, extra large and jumbo. As each pot was stuffed, one alternated between layers of crabs and crab spice. There were bushels of blue crabs, in various state of agitation, and barrels of crab spice. It was not an easy job working for hours in a one-hundred degree kitchen for low pay. It even killed my interest in cooking for years.

As long-time followers of this blog know, it was not until approximately 10 to 12 years later until I revived my interest in cooking. That revival occurred during a trip to Italy. I fell in love with the cuisine, starting with the two regions that I visited: Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany.  I then began to explore other Italian regions and eventually other countries, which has led to this globally-inspired cooking blog. 

Artist: Albert Kallis

Yet, it was a recent story in Nature.com about the invasion of blue crabs caught my attention. The story talked about how the species was threatening the northern Adriatic Sea, including the Po River where it is threatening the local clam harvests. Blue crabs can be voracious eaters of clams, mussels and oysters. They also reproduce in large numbers and, if left unchecked, can quickly overtake a local ecosystem, turning into what some describe as an underwater desert. The crabs are also difficult to catch, being able to use their sharp claws to cut through nets. To a region with a long, venerated culinary history and traditions, the appearance of blue crabs may seem very threatening. Kind of like a old horror movie.

I should note that the recent events in the north Adriatic are not the first blue crab invasion in the Mediterranean Sea - or even the Adriatic Sea. There are reports of blue crabs invading the river deltas of Croatia in 2020, the shores and lagoons of Albania in 2021, as well as shorelines of France and Spain and Gibraltar. In each case, the blue crab was able to take over an area, creating a threat not only to the local molluscs, but also the fish and even the plant life.

Source: Kim Cover

As voracious as the blue crab may be, they have a natural predator that can be just as insatiable - us. For those of us who live around the Chesapeake Bay, we know the troubled history of the blue crab in our waters. Overfishing and consumption, combined with poor regulations and the introduction of the crab pot - led to significant declines in blue crab populations. The population declines have been worsened by runoff from farms, whose pollution has affected not only the blue crabs, but the environs around which they live. From the mid-1990s until 2004, the blue crab population in the Chesapeake Bay fell from 900 million to about 300 million. The population fell to its lowest level in 2022, as determined by 33 years of surveys.  

Quite ironically, where Italy has dedicated nearly $3 million Euros to reducing the numbers of crabs in its waters, the U.S. government - along with the governments of Maryland and Virginia - are taking various steps -- such as improving water quality and restoring oyster reefs -- to protect the species and grow its numbers. 

For this post, I thought I would do my part to help those along the shores of the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas suffering from an "invasion" of one of my favorite foods to eat. I am reproducing my all-time favorite (as of right now) blue crab recipe below, as well as links to other very good recipes that one can find on this blog.

MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE BLUE CRAB RECIPE (AS OF RIGHT NOW)

CAROLINA CRAB RICE

Recipe from the Smithsonian Institution

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup long grain rice, uncooked
• 2 cups water
• Small pinch of salt
• 2-3 strips of thick cut bacon, diced
• 1 celery stalk diced
• 1/2 bell pepper, any color, diced 
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 pound of crabmeat, cooked (preferably lump)
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Salt
• Black pepper

Directions:

1.  Prepare the rice. Rinse the dry rice under cool water 3 to 4 times and drain. Put the rinsed rice into a small pot, cover with 2 cups of water, add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low, cover the pot and let the rice cook undisturbed for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, crack the lid of the pot so the rice can stop cooking and set aside. 

2. Fry the bacon. In a small skillet, fry the bacon pieces over medium-low heat until all of the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Carefully remove the bacon pieces and set them aside. Reserve the rendered fat in the pan.

3. Fry the vegetables. Over medium heat, add celery, bell pepper and onion to the pan with the bacon fat and sauté until vegetables have softened and onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Then add crabmeat and cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes until crab has begun to crisp. 

4. Finish the dish. Add the cooked rice, bacon and seasonings to the pan with the vegetables. Incorporate all of the ingredients until evenly mixed, turn to low and let cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Serve immediately. 

OTHER DELICIOUS BLUE CRAB RECIPES

If you want some more culinary ideas on how to control blue crab populations, I strongly suggest these possibilities: 

Blue Crabcake Algonquin: This recipe comes in a close second to the Carolina Crab Rice. This recipe comes a book called Renewing America's Food Traditions, which discusses endangered ingredients across the North American continent. This recipe is a very traditional and very delicious crabcake.

Steamed Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs: This is the traditional method of preparing crabs in along the bay. Just replace "Chesapeake Bay" with "Adriatic Sea" and you are good to go. Also, if you need a recipe for Old Bay seasoning, check out my attempt to recreate that iconic spice mixture.

Crab Flake Salad: This recipe could be found on the menus of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's dining cars. It is a very simple preparation that makes an amazing appetizer. A similar version of this dish hails from the coastlines of Mississippi and Alabama, which is known as West Indies Salad.

Fire Roasted Gazpacho with Maryland Lump Crab: This recipe combines perhaps my most favorite soup - Gazpacho - with one of my most favorite proteins, blue crab. The fire-roasting of the gazpacho ingredients is an idea of master griller Steven Raichlen.

Chesapeake Paella: This recipe utilizes blue crab in a seafood paella (also, if you happen to find some soft-shell blue crabs, then you can enjoy eating the entire crab - minus its face and gills, of course). This recipe provides a wonderful combination of Chesapeake and Valencian culinary influences.

These are just some of the blue crab recipes on the blog, but they are definitely among my favorites. I offer these suggestions as my part to help those living survive the invasion of blue crabs. Until next time ...

ENJOY!