The Freshest Fish in Maine

It had been years since a regular supply of locally caught fish graced my chef's bench.

20+ years ago, I moved to the Midcoast to pursue my career as a Chef at the East Wind Inn in Tenants Harbor. Back then a trip to Stinson's in the South End of Rockland was all you had to do to get local fish. O'Hara's dragger boats are long gone to the west, herring, scallop and lobster fishing still march on, but haddock, dab, flounder, haddock, cod, pollock, and monk fish are rarely seen. Yes there is the occasional by-catch, but those days of cheap fish for "shack" money are well. Dead.

Enter Port Clyde Fresh Catch & Laura Kramar of the Island Institute. This group of fishermen and The Island Institute are engaged to not only save one of the last groups of their kind, but to flourish. For the whole (fish) story visit their website www.portclydefreshcatch.com.

Enter Café Miranda. Laura dropped by to ask our thoughts on buying whole fish for the summer season, June through mid-September, which, niftily enough, concurs with the busy Restaurant season in Maine. These folks are great, well thought, "Green" (environmentally aware, not green from the rough seas or algae) and HAVE THE FISH! I was ecstatic that they wanted us to be the guinea pigs (I prefer test pilot as it is much more glamorous) for this project.

I'll save labor costs, yields, and that for another piece, but I gotta say: these are some of the BEST ingredients that I have seen in my 28 year career. This halibut, happily swimming hours before, stiff with rigor mortis, clear eyes (a tell-tale of freshness) and smelling of nothing except the briny deep was magnificent. I felt that I was part of history in the making, the continuation and re-birth of an industry, a way of life that will affect not only the producers, but me as I am cutting it,  the restaurant, the staff, not to mention the delight in the mouths of our customers. The group that assembled to see me filet this creature was aware of the same. They were all eerily silent as I took the first cut with my old Wusthof Scimitar. I thanked the fish, the gods, and the fisher folks.   

It was like making love to food. Beautiful white flesh, peeling off the bone to sit on my bench, glistening, supple, sweet. Wow. I get to eat this too?

And so we did. Chef David Joseph did the first rendition: Fresh Port Clyde Halibut Steaks, sauteed in brown butter w/caramelized lemon, caper berries, fresh herbs, wilted spinach, and new potatoes. I did the next one. As we have one of the state's first wood fired brick ovens, I roasted the filet with our salsa  -- chunks of poblano peppers, sliced red onion, almond slivers, and green olives in a tomato base -- fresh oregano with yellow jasmine rice and lime. Wow.

What a story, what a fish! When you see Port Clyde Fresh Catch on the menus at your local restaurants, buy it. It supports sustainable, enviro-conscious fishing and of course, GREAT eating.

Kerry Altiero is the chef and co-owner of Café Miranda in Rockland.

Comments

[Kim Libby]

Many thanks to Chef Kerry Altiero of Cafe Miranda for taking a chance on us, and telling the real story about the dismal lack of fresh fish here on the coast of Maine. Right in the heart of the last groundfishing community left in the state besides Portland! Accept no imitations, if it isn't Port Clyde Fresh Catch, it's not the freshest fish you can have on your plate. Local merchants claim their fish is fresh, but the truth of the matter is 9 times out of 10, fish advertised as fresh are coming from either the Portland auction or Boston where there is no way to determine how old the fish is. We guarantee that our fish is 24 or less hours from dock to plate. As we like to say, "If it were any fresher, it would still be swimming!"