Holy Mackerel

When I was young my mother served us fish on Fridays. Most of the time it was flounder or tuna but we also had other fish. I remember eating bluefish and mackerel. These fish were very tasty. I can’t remember the last time I ate bluefish – maybe 35 years ago. The bait and tackle shop on A1A was the place to ask. We stopped to get something for dinner and I asked about bluefish. I received a sideways glance from the man behind the counter and then I heard this strong Boston accent from the other side of the room. It seems that bluefish and mackerel are (were?) fish for the common people. They have a very fishy taste and most people do not like it. They don’t sell these fish; they don’t have a market. The fishmongers had a little distain for some of the fish they were selling e.g. grouper, haddock – all perfectly good fish but on the mild side. We settled for a tub of their fish dip (mixture of different fish and spices) which was really yummy and a pound of fresh sea scallops with the instructions to only sear them for 30 seconds per side (I cooked them a bit longer). The scallops were delicious. Paul calls me a foodie. I don’t think it’s a compliment. Speaking of seafood, Terry and Jim took us to The Crab Shack on Tybee Island last Friday evening. The tables have big holes in the middle with something that looks like a pizza stand on top. There are trash cans below the hole . . . to catch the shells and other discards. We shared a big plate of steamed oysters and then ordered this huge sampler platter which contained: snow crabs, stone crabs, muscles, shrimp, sausage, potatoes, corn and crawdads. In a word it was ‘wow’ – one of the best seafood meals I’ve had. Maybe I am a foodie – my apologies.