Remember when New Yorkers could pick up fresh seafood from the Fulton Fish Market? Well, you can support local seafood entrepreneurs once again at the New Amsterdam Market on Sunday, May 20th from 11–4 pm.

Last December, W&T Seafood was proud to participate in “A Gathering of Fisheries,” sharing the season’s best bivalves. We are excited to return (in less finger-numbing conditions) for another lively market, where we can share our wares and knowledge with curious folks like you. So, stop by and peruse a diverse selection of oysters, clams and mussels—we may even have some rare Belon oysters on hand. Plus, Chef April Bloomfield from the Spotted Pig and John Dory Oyster Bar will be conducting a fish cutting/cooking demo at 2 pm. What a great opportunity to learn from the best!

For more information on “Gathering of Fisheries II,” check out the New Amsterdam Market website.

Like many nautical tales, this one starts with a storm.

In the midst of lashing winds off Cape May, NJ, Henry Miller Terry was tied up and sent overboard by his father to cut the oyster nets loose from the sides of the ship. When he was pulled up again, bloodied and clothing sliced to ribbons by the sharp oyster shells, Terry decided that he’d had enough of his father’s ship, and left to sail his own course. Eventually, he made his way to Willis Wharf on the eastern shore of Virginia, where he founded H.M. Terry Co. in 1903.

Today, H.M. Terry Co., Inc. is in its fourth generation of shellfish farming, and is flourishing with a homegrown blend of tradition, dedication and cutting-edge research with partners at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. They raise over 40 million Sewansecott salt clams and oysters each year from native Virginia brood stock. These shellfish grow and fatten in the pristine waters of Hog Island Bay, surrounding the undeveloped barrier islands of the Virginia Coast Reserve. Nurtured by a six and a half foot tidal flow, the waters are nutrient rich and free from pollutants or chemical run-off. The resulting oysters are meaty and briny with a splash of cream, cupped in unique shells that sometimes have pink or purple streaks.

We’re excited to offer this premium oyster from Virginia and hope Sewansecott carries on for another century. For more information on ordering Sewansecott oysters in the NYC area, give us a call!

Mmm, who doesn’t love inhaling the warm steam from a seafood soup? Whether it be a classic clam chowder or a tomato-based oyster stew, the marriage of ocean flavors and hearty vegetables always hits the spot on a crisp, winter day.

This potato and corn chowder showcases the firm texture of swai, which holds up well in this thick, robust soup. You can also substitute other types of white fish for the swai. For the health-conscious folks out there, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to know this chowder does not include cream, but the combination of milk and mashed potatoes results in a luxuriously rich mouthfeel.

To check out W&T Seafood’s swai fillets, give us a call today!

In recent years, the word “farmed” has been equated with “unflattering” in the seafood industry, as consumers struggle to determine the best choices for their tables. Farm-raised fish are pumped full of antibiotics and other chemicals, the headlines blare. Farmed fish are fed ground fishmeal, which further depletes the ocean’s seafood stocks. Parasites and diseases run rampant at densely packed fish farms. These charges are certainly true of some fish (see this National Geographic article on farmed salmon and sea lice), however there is one ringing counterexample to the argument that farmed seafood is always bad: oysters. So, what makes cultured oysters so much more environmentally friendly and are they truly better than their wild cousins?

There are some major distinctions between the aquaculture of fish versus raising oysters. Unlike fish, oysters don’t need to be fed, and thus do not further deplete wild seafood stocks. Instead, oysters act like a sponge, absorbing and filtering minerals and nutrients from the water around them, no additional help needed. Oysters do not generate waste or pollute the water, even in densely packed beds. On the contrary, they remove nitrogen from the water and improve water clarity, which benefits other aquatic plants and wildlife. In general, they only grow and flourish in clean conditions, so farmers don’t use added chemicals in production and they have strong incentives to protect the regional watershed.

Wild oysters provide all these benefits too, but pollution of coastal waters means you must be very cautious of the oyster’s harvest location. Some wild oysters are harvested through dredging, which destroys seafloor habitats. Overall, it’s better to leave wild oysters to reproduce and build up oyster beds along our coasts, rather than depleting those populations. For these reasons, Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch rates farmed oysters “green,” but wild oysters “yellow.”

More importantly for discerning palates, some might say farmed oysters taste better. Wild oysters that grow to adult size have certainly beat the odds (only about one in a million eggs survive), however they have generally led a life of hardship, struggling to reach algae and nutrients from the muddy seafloor bottom. Farmed oysters, on the other hand, have been stuffed with a steady stream of food since birth, bask in temperature controlled conditions without large fluctuations, and have doting farmers who ensure that they grow strong, beautiful shells. They are bred to grow quickly and are harvested when they are at their peak flavor.

No wonder 95% of the oysters we eat are farm-raised; they’re both more environmentally sustainable and tastier to boot!

At W&T Seafood, we carry farm-raised oysters as a general rule, for the philosophical reasons outlined above. The only exception is the Belon oyster, which is found in wild beds in the Damariscotta River in Maine, one of the only established and self-sustaining oyster populations in the world. However, even these oysters are not native to the area; they were originally planted in the 1950s by scientists who were interest in culturing this European species on the other side of the pond. Some of the oysters were accidentally released into the wild, and they have since settled and are thriving in Maine.

So, the next time someone asks you whether you prefer farmed or wild seafood, you can proudly announce, “I’ll take farmed oysters any day!”

If there’s one thing we love more than oysters, it’s finding chefs who are passionate about oysters too. So, we’re thrilled that the next New York Oyster Lovers Meetup will take place at Dressler (149 Broadway, Williamsburg) on Tuesday, May 8 at 7 pm. Some of you may have attended the Oyster Bash held at Dressler last year, and we’re excited to return for a full dinner. Executive Chef Polo Dobkin has designed the following oyster-themed menu for us, and it certainly helps explain how he’s received a Michelin star for five consecutive years. And let’s not forget the space–the NYT celebrates Dressler for having “food that’s sophisticated without being too clever, in a room that’s beautiful without being too flamboyant.” Check out the menu below:

SHOOTER
tomato water, vodka marjoram, thyme

RAW
east: shallot, black pepper, chardonnay vinegar
west: ramp, rice wine, chili

FRIED
corn meal breaded, mignonette remoulade, arugula, ciabatta

POACHED
kombu dashi, mackeral, daikon, sprouts, black radish

If that doesn’t make your mouth water, I don’t know what will!

The price for the dinner is $40 plus tax and tip, and payments will be collected after dinner, including any a la carte drinks or items you might order. To RSVP, you MUST sign up through Meetup, no +1s will be allowed for this event.

See you at Dressler!

Sardines may not be as popular or showy as their larger brethren, but they pack lots of flavor into a small package. This oily fish may not be the best choice for the fish-shy, but seafood aficionados will love the intense punch of broiled or grilled sardines. In this recipe, a ginger, soy sauce and rice wine marinade is used to mellow the sardines a bit, but their personality still shines through. If you’re looking to move beyond mild white fish, this is where to start!

Don’t forget to check out our previous recipe on Panko-Crusted Fried Sardines. For more information on W&T Seafood’s sardine offerings, give your sales representative a call.

We had a blast at the Brooklyn Brewery beer and oyster Sip ‘n’ Slurp last week, a huge thank you to everyone who attended! It was an adventurous experience for many, and we were amused by the article that was subsequently posted by our friends at Gothamist. Read on for a transcendent journey into beer and bivalve wonderment.

Last night we stopped by an unusual tasting at Brooklyn Brewery pairing oysters and beer. Garrett Oliver, Brooklyn’s brewmaster, said that in all of the hundreds of beer tastings that he’d hosted, he’d never done one with oysters before. That put a current of fear in the air—the fear of oysters tasting really weird when mixed with a mouthful of beer. But we persevered, driven on by our insatiable curiosity and increasing inebriation. And our courage was rewarded. The oysters, provided by the family-owned W&T Seafood, were good, and served without any garnish except for the beer. That brought out some oyster flavors we never tasted before, as well as a strange oyster beer buzz, through which we dictated the following tasting notes to our assistants:

2. Brooklyn Local #2 and Kumamoto: This was a dark 9% brew that tasted like burnt candy. The oysters were buttery and meaty, deeply cupped in their shells. A nice match for after you’ve sold that photo sharing company to Facebook and moved to that island in the bay 100 miles north of Seattle, alone, with nothing but a case of dark beer and your thoughts. You are alone, yes, but you are not lonely. You eat another oyster and think, “I’ll never go back.” You snap a picture of your oyster shell and click “Valencia.” You stare moodily off into the darkness.

Continue reading at Gothamist:
http://gothamist.com/2012/04/11/what_beer_to_drink_with_your_oyster.php

At the Boston Seafood Show, I attended several seminars that addressed the question of why Americans aren’t eating more fish. According to the latest data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Americans eat 15.8 lbs of seafood per capita, a figure that has been flat or declining for the last decade or so now. In this gathering of seafood retailers, suppliers and restaurateurs, we dove into the psyche of the elusive consumer and tried to figure out what drives seafood sales. Price? Health? Sustainability? As it turns out, the answers are as complicated as the seafood industry itself.

Not surprisingly, price was cited as a deterrent for many consumers from purchasing seafood. With the uncertain economy and higher food and fuel prices, many households are scrimping on groceries and substituting other options, like cheaper cuts of meat. But is seafood really more expensive than meat? While some products have certainly gone up in price, there are other alternative that are more affordable. Tilapia and hake were cited as examples of great fish at reasonable prices.

Meanwhile, cost per portion is quite different from the price you see per pound. Fishmongers like to display large cuts of fish in their display cases, and while this does make for a dramatic presentation, it leaves the consumer feeling uncertain about how much he’s actually spending. In reality, he might only need 5 ounces of fish and the cost might be $2 per portion. Instead of facing a sign for fish at $20/lb, would you feel more comfortable buying seafood servings that are clearly marked with per portion costs?

Education and transparency are also keys to driving seafood purchases. Many people still feel anxiety about purchasing and preparing seafood, worry that their kitchen will smell fishy, and are concerned about the safety of seafood. Hence, it’s critical to have staff who can demonstrate how to cook seafood and offer samples. The seafood’s origin and catch method should be marked, along with certifications for sustainability or antibiotic/hormone-free products. This level of traceability can be made even more sophisticated with smartphones. In Boston, the restaurant Taranta uses scannable QR codes that allow diners to see where their meal was caught. Talk about transparent!

The issue with premium seafood products is that consumers may not be willing to pay for them, rendering sustainable seafood economically unsustainable. In a study conducted by Cornell University and Seafood Source, consumers were asked how much they’d be willing to pay for seafood with a variety of attributes, such as U.S. raised, wild-caught, antibiotic/hormone-free, etc. The results? Consumers were only willing to pay 76 cents more on average for “fresh” seafood, and 42 cents extra for “frozen” seafood. The price premiums for the other characteristics were insignificant. This type of purchasing behavior does not bode well for sustainable seafood producers, and suggests that the need for further education is high.

For consumers who reported purchasing more seafood than before, the primary reason cited was health. It seems that the word is finally getting out that seafood is a nutritious, lean protein source, full of Omega-3 fatty acids and linked to lower rates of cardiovascular disease. Linda O’Dierno from the National Aquaculture Association commented that she recently read an article that recommended ordering seafood on blind dates because it shows that you’re “sexy and cosmopolitan.” Seafood is uniquely fun and good for you!

Overall in 2011, salmon and tilapia were the most popular seafood products, comprising 8 of the top 10 best selling items. Prepared seafood also saw lots of growth—think of the proliferation of sushi trays you’ve seen in every corner deli and convenience store. Oyster sales are also on the upswing, as oyster bars gain in popularity and people try to replicate those experiences at home.

For W&T Seafood as a distributor, we work with restaurants and retailers on a daily basis, and know how important it is to understand the product. We make strong efforts to teach chefs and staff about where our seafood comes from, how to use it and present it to customers. Our expertise can also be transferred to diners and consumers.

So, how have you changed your seafood purchasing habits in the last year or two? Are you buying more or less, and why? How much are you really willing to pay for certified sustainable or antibiotic/hormone-free seafood?

We’re excited to see where seafood goes next, and can’t wait to rise to the new challenges of education and transparency!

Previously: Inside the 2012 Boston Seafood Show

Have you tried head-on shrimp? They may be a bit intimidating to look at, but keeping the shells and heads intact will pack fantastically intense flavors into shrimp dishes. Like lobster, the heads of shrimp are juicy with fats, a wonderful treat for shrimp and seafood fans.

If the idea of serving shrimp heads makes your guests queasy, you can remove them but do not throw them out! The heads can be used for shrimp stock; simply throw them into boiling water with some garlic and onion for a great soup or sauce base.

In this recipe, the subtly sweet flavor of the shrimp is complemented by tomato and garlic sauce, then served over pasta. Before cooking though, the shrimp are passed through a mixture of cornstarch and egg whites, a technique used in Chinese cuisine called “velveting,” which keeps meat silky smooth and prevents it from getting tough. Try it out with this recipe and let us know what you think!

Abalone has long been associated with Asian cooking, and we’re certainly big fans of braised abalone with ginger and soy sauce. However, abalone can also lend itself to other international cuisines, particularly dishes that use light-handed treatment of seafood to allow the natural flavors to shine. This ceviche with abalone and kumquats is a great example of abalone with a contemporary twist. Just look at those vivid colors!

Here at W&T Seafood, we carry blue abalone that is farm-raised in New Zealand. To order or sample the abalone, just give us a call. For more information on the history of abalone production and where it can be found, see our profile “Abalone: Much more than just a pretty shell.”