Living la vida local, part 2: Bay Area seafood

The name of my blog tips you off. I'm rather fond of seafood. You'd be correct if you were to assume that a person willing to praise the common sardine just might be the type of person who would attack a plateful of more celebrated delicacies from the sea with the voracity of a shark (I'd be the shark wielding the fish knife, of course).

I have only one criteria when it comes to evaluating the products that swim through that liquid that covers 70% of our planet: freshness.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Hardly earth-shattering. Thanks for the brilliant insight, Brett.

Here's my additional 2 cents.

What I've learned from my experiences in Spain rubbing elbows with those shoppers, diners, and cooks whose collective national fervor for impeccably fresh seafood is matched only by the Japanese is this: there is a huge  difference between fresh and FRESH.

Seafood in Spain is pristinely FRESH. Unlike stores in the Bay Area, fish markets in Spain do not smell fishy. There is no odor at all (Do you hear that, managers and owners of Andronico's and Whole Foods?). Respected fishmongers in Spain would sooner be caught wearing the jersey for the British national football (soccer) team during the upcoming World Cup than sell fish on Mondays, because everyone knows that fisherman do not fish on Sundays. If you want seafood on Monday, you eat salt cod (which in Spain is hardly a sacrifice).

In my dining and cooking experience in Spain and here in the Bay Area, I follow one rule of thumb. If you wan the freshest, most immaculate seafood, eat locally.*

As this year's Eat Local Challenge officially ended yesterday, I want to report that I was repeatedly frustrated and thwarted in my attempts to source truly FRESH locally caught or raised fin and shellfish in my home town. Since I am not working in restaurants right now, I have to buy my seafood in local stores like any home cook. With few exceptions (Swan Oyster Depot in San Francisco and Monterey Fish Market in Berkeley usually carry a few local items and can place special orders), the fish stores here are mediocre at best. It takes tremendous effort to find fresh local fish. Are my expectations too high? Is it simply a case of me being, yet again, a food snob?

Despite these disappointments, I did have quite a few foraging successes, though, which I'd like to share, chiefly to promote those who supplied the goods.

May marks the beginning of the local wild salmon season, but this year, due to heavy (and controversial) federally-imposed restrictions on the local catch, finding local salmon has never been so difficult nor so expensive.

Fortunately, at the local market I can buy freshly caught local wild King salmon directly from my favorite fisherman, Larry Miyamura. If you want to know the difference between fresh and FRESH, stop by Larry's stand, Shogun Fish, at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market on Saturday and buy some of his salmon (pictured above with sweet peas and champagne butter sauce). Despite the restrictions, Larry has thus far been able to supply our market with his succulent king salmon, missing only a couple of weeks in May. He has been catching the fish just south of Pigeon Point lighthouse near Half Moon Bay, which is the furthest north that he can legally fish this season. Enjoy his fish while you can, because he's warned me that there will be many weeks when he won't be allowed to catch a thing.

I've also been feasting often on the same thing that many of the local salmon eat: anchovies and a whole lotta sardines* (pictured above, fried). Although in Spain, for example, sardines and anchovies are considered summertime fish, in the Bay Area I tend to find the biggest sardines during the winter and spring (my solution: go to Spain during the summer!). I regularly buy my local sardines from the stand operated at the Saturday market by the Fresh Fish Company, a company run by the aptly named Tim Ports that has supplied many of the restaurants where I've worked.

In case you have yet to be convinced that you ought to be eating sardines as often as possible, Marian Burros wrote a persuasive article in yesterday's New York Times food section espousing the virtues of eating certain fish which are 1. low in mercury and other pollutants, 2. not over-fished, 3. caught or raised in an ecologically sound way, 4. high in beneficial omega-3 fatty acids, and 5. taste good. Of the 7 varieties of seafood she listed, 6 are caught or raised  in our local Pacific waters: wild salmon, black cod, herring, anchovies, farmed oysters and, yes, sardines (also check out her sardine recipe). Of these, sardines contain the highest concentration of omega-3's and have virtual zero mercury.

My big seafood-related discovery this month has been the discovery of local clams. The folks at Hog Island Oyster Company are raising the most fabulous cockle-sized manila clams at their aqua farm in Tomales Bay. I guess that I have been so focused on slurping down their sweet fresh oysters that I never noticed the clams before. One of my favorite sorta-kinda local meals this past month was a bowl of these clams (pictured above) steamed with green garlic and tasty stuff (manzanilla sherry and jamón serrano) imported from Spain. Although the Spanish ingredients partially explain why these were the best clams I've eaten outside of Spain, the main reason was that these clams were incredibly FRESH. As they were steaming in the sherry, they popped open like popcorn. Fantastic!

The embarrassment of riches that emerges from our local soil does not unfortunately extend to our local seas. While I have long (somewhat begrudgeonly) known the limitations of our local seafood supply, I appreciate that the May Eat Local Challenge encouraged me to relish the treasures that we do find off our local coast. Let's all praise our local fisher-folk (and their sardines)!
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* Yes, yes, I know. Before any Madrileños write in, let me assure you that I am aware that, for the most part, the best seafood in Spain is found well inland away from the coasts in the nation's capital, Madrid. That is a question of economics and demand, I suppose. But really, compared to distances in the US, all the coasts of Spain are relatively "local" to Madrid.

** Have you ever noticed that some wild king salmon are lighter and some are darker pink? Larry explained to me that the light colored ones feast on anchovies and sardines and have richer, oilier flesh, whereas the darker pink ones eat a diet higher in shrimp and are leaner and sweeter. Guess which ones I prefer? Hint: see name of blog.

Food|and Drink|Eat Local Challenge|San Francisco|Seafood|Fish

Comments

[lobstersquad]

You sure know your madrileños, Brett!
I think at least every couple of weeks I have a heated argument with someone from the coast about the quality of fish in Madrid. Which is excellent, of course. Not cheap, like buying fish off the boats, but I can live with that. I can´t get up that early, anyway.

[ann]

to accomplish this challenge out here on the east coast, i think i'd only be able to eat bluefish, which, to be honest, has its own charms, but certainly ain't no sardine (or salmon for that matter!)
if you ever want to visit another sardine loving country, head on over to Croatia, they're crazy about them there!

[Amy]

Have you been to Yum Yum Fish? I find they have pretty good quality fresh fish. But I also like Swan because I can walk there from my apartment.

[Brett]

Lobstersquad, I'm not an early riser, either, but if I could buy directly from the fishermen, I just might get up that early. It doesn't seem to be an option to buy off the boats here. Our once vibrant fishing piers are now filled with tourist attractions and frozen, imported, and/or overcooked fish.

Ann, I'd love to head to Croatia! I hear it's stunningly beautiful (and relatively affordable).

Amy, Yum Yum is decent. So are Bryan's, the few markets around the Japan Center, and 99 Ranch. But rarely do any of them carry the super fresh, locally caught fish that I'm passionate about.

[misspoetje]

If you ever get tired of Salt Cod-Mondays, you can add sole to your Monday menu. Sole actually needs 5-7 days to age to soften the flesh and help separate the skin for best quality. I wonder if any fishmonger has ever tried to advertise this?
Your clams look beautiful and remind me that I should take the boys out clamming before we leave to Madrid. And speaking of, have you eaten at Combarro? If so, do you have any recommendations?
On another not-so-fresh-fish-note, Dutch herring season finally opened last week, after a delay. The fish were deemed to skinny because of unseasonally cold weather. The Dutch are expected to eat no less then 80 million herring this year! Small wonder if you consider that they are advertised to cure hangovers and bring relief to nauseous (pregnant) women. All that aside, they are delicious and require no preparation other then that they beg to be accompanied by an ice cold glass of Old Dutch gin.
None of this has anything to do with local food, unless,of course you are Dutch or an ex-pat and hopelessly homesick for herring, like me.

[pisto]

Mind you, madrileños think Madrid is the center of the universe. And they see the window at Combarro and extrapolate that to all the fisher-shops in Madrid. I do live in the Northern Coast of Spain and I can tell you that fish in Madrid is nice but not the best. Now, if you compare the window of Combarro to a low end supermarket fish section...

Not to mention that madrileños pay a 50% more for their fish.

Urban legend IMHO.

[misspoetje]

OK, I can't let your comment on soccer loving fishmongers go and have to toss in a rotten fish. (I hope I'm note over my comment quopta?) A Dutch fishmonger wouldn't want to be caught dead in a German soccer jersey, no matter what his reputation is amongst fishmongers, he'd rather sell you last year's herring! AND his mother who ate last year's herring.
All kidding aside, I appreciate your attention to la Vida Loco. It's all local in this household. We grow most of our own veggies and collect fresh eggs every day. I wish I could get a hold of sardines somehow. Three more weeks and we'll be in Spain.

[johng]

If I was a nervier guy, I would go to my local Whole Foods, which is a marginal fish source, and my local Market, Olivers, which is a highly suspect fish source, and ask the fish counter people (they're not really mongers) to let me sniff the fish. Better yet, I would like them to cut me off a sliver so I can taste it. If they'll do it with with cheese, why not fish?

There is no local salmon here in Santa Rosa right now, but just hear that a local fruit truck just put a sign up saying they've got it. They sold some pretty decent crab last winter so I'm hopeful.

[Greg]

The clam look great! Thanks for the tip about Hog Island.

[Brett]

Misspoetje, very funny comment on the Dutch soccer fan fishmongers! I'll take your word for it on the sole, assuming that you're talking about Dover sole. Dover sole is not available on the West coast so I'm not that familiar with it. I do however know from experience that our local smaller "sole" (petrale, Rex and sand dabs, all of which I believe are technically flounder) are all best when absolutely fresh, not a week old.

How exciting that you are going to Combarro! Sadly, I have not had the good fortune to dine there, so I cannot give any recommendations. I bet you can get those sardines you're craving there, although there's probably loftier dishes on the menu.

Pisto, I'm not surprised that it may be an urban legend that the best fish ends up in Madrid. I had great fish eating on the northern coast, particularly in Getaria. Come to think of it, I think I had Dover sole (lenguado)! I wonder when it was caught? Wish I'd asked!

Johng, Santa Rosa's pretty far from where the govt. is allowing fishing, so I'm not surprised that there's no local salmon. As for asking for samples at the fish markets, you're right. They should offer you up a sliver to taste or at least smell. A few times I've bought fish that the counter person insisted was fresh, then tossed it in the bin at home after its nasty aroma practically slapped me in the face. Actually, both times that happened was fish from the same fish market, a relatively new market in a prime location.

Greg, I highly recommend the HI clams!

[nopisto]

Hey, I'm a Madrileño!

And indeed we have some of the best fish in Spain and yes also some of the worst. We have to pay twice as much ffor our fish but I heve seen trucks from Galicia comming to Madrid with just caught fish tha have come back to Galicia with the same fish for the local restaurants. This might look silly but that's the way distribution is.

Anyway I'd rather live by the sea than in Madrid so I'm not that proud it's a matter of enjoy the place where you live like San Francisco.

[tankeduptaco]

As a recreational angler, I've had access to absolutely spanking fresh fish all my life and I've always found them to be better a day or two later. Some may be able to buy straight from the boat, but unless it's a day boat - in and out the same day, the fish will always be a day or two old. I can't speak for oily fish such as sardines or salmon, as I only catch white fleshed fish, so they may be a different story. The post I wrote about it is at http://tankeduptaco.blogspot.com/2005/12/burn-me-on-stake.html

[Denzylle]

Just a wee technical point on the subject of football - there is no 'British national' team. Britain (the UK) is made up of four countries - England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales - and, unfortunately, only England has qualified for the World Cup.

[shynee]

brilliant blog...missed it for so long...just tripped over it today...excellent snaps...shall come back soon to read more patiently...

[nada]

The best sardines dish I've ever eaten was very like this: http://www.offthebone.net/?p=18