Wild Edibles Seafood Update

By -
Good morning chefs and buyers,
 
The buzz from Jersey is that we can expect some high yield landings of large sea scallops coming into Cape May over the next week. The fleet is out derby style into long closed areas and reporting scallop beds thick with scallops and very little to no flounders coming as by-catch (this is significant because high capture of yellowtails could have meant reduced days at sea for the scallop boats). Meat sizes will be mostly U/10's and there likely will be many U/7's in the mix. If the landings are as high as expected we hope to see prices drop significantly as boats come in towards weeks end. On another note, from a private short trip boat out of Rhode Island we have some sea scallops in the shell today, the big boats process everything on board so to get seas in the shell of this quality is not common.
 
Massachusetts jumbo monkfish tails (4+) are fantastic with rose pink collars and very firm flesh. Wolf fish showed up on a lot of boats yesterday, and we have some nice medium sized specimens. Wolf fish are an eel like member of  the blennie family. Subsiding on a diet primarily of mollusc, urchin and crab the meat of this fish is sweet and fine. Local silver dory are between 2-5lbs today, the flesh of dory is firm and mild and similar in appearance to flounder and sole.
 
We brought in some Opah today from the South Pacific Island of Fiji. Opah is an excellent crudo item and similar enough to tuna to be cleverly used in the same ways you might serve it.
 
Also available is sturgeon, razor and steamer clams, uni trays, fresh blue crab meat,  ocean perch fillet, wild sockeye (at these prices they will be gone soon) and chinook salmon.
 
"It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do."
~Jerome K. Jerome
 
Enjoy the day,
Matthew Hovey http://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewhovey
718-433-4321 ext.121 / fax 718-433-4616
"Hand picked specialties from the Seas"
www.wildedibles.com 
http://sustainablefishmonger.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fish Yields - or - How Much Does This Really Cost Me?

By -
Image
I often find it necessary to explain the yield (amount of usable flesh) off of various fish. By knowing what percentage of meat will be available when a whole fish is filleted one can make an accurate analysis of; A. how much whole fish must be purchased and B. what is the true fillet cost. Knowing how to correctly perform these calculations will benefit not only seafood suppliers, restaurant chefs, but also the casual cook. Below is a list of some common fish and the net yield percentages. Actual percentages may vary depending on skill of the butcher. Salmon (head-on gutted) yields 75% skin-on fillet Snapper (head-on gutted) yields 40% skin-on fillet Mahi (headed and gutted) yields 65% skin-on fillet Monkfish (tail) yields 70% skinless fillet Cod (headed and gutted) yields 60% skin-on fillet Grouper (head-on gutted) yields 35% skinless fillet Halibut (headed and gutted) yields 66% skin-on fillet Tuna (headless bullets) yields 75% untrimmed loins Sword (headless bullets) yields 80% cen
Read more

Flounder and Sole: or A Fish By Any Other Name Would Still Taste as Sweet.

By -
Image
Ever wonder what the differences are between Sole and Flounder? Some customers recently asked me the question so I thought I would take a moment to shed a bit of light on the subject. Here in North America we have no true sole only flounders. When Europeans came to the Americas they called flounders soles because they looked like the fish they knew in the "old world". This has led understandably to much confusion over the years. The only true sole would be Dover Sole, Solea solea . Lemon sole is one of the names given to winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus , (also known as black back). Usually at the retail level when multiple flounder sku's are sold; flounder is the name given to the refreshed less expensive product, and sole (or lemon sole) is the name given to the more expensive fresh cut product. Fluke, Paralichthys dentatus also called summer flounder can also be sold as sole fillet. Sometimes there is a distinction
Read more

Sugar Toads, What? : Blowfish Tails Check

By -
Image
So Friday morning I am on the phone with one of the good old boy fish sellers in Maryland, and after hearing about how the Maryland DNC might be the ones "poaching" all those rock fish (wild striped bass) in ghost driftnets he finally gives me his catch list, and he just says it 'sugar toads'. So I had to look at the calendar and make sure it wasn't April 1st, because I hate to admit it but I have no idea what this is. He says "..you know theses little puffer tails". The lights go on in my head: BLOWFISH TAILS.....send me 50 lbs to sell and a couple for testing. I have to say these are one of this Fishmonger's favorite appetizing seafood specialties, and no they are not poisonous that is a different fish. I cannot wait until these jewels arrive Monday. I did a little research and it looks like they are a 'micro-trend' according to a recent article in Grubstreet declares this, who knew. So if you get the chance try some at the next chance you
Read more