Sustainable seafood: over the past 25 years, Louis Osteen has witnessed an alarming change in south Carolina.

"When I moved to the coast in 1980 and began cooking down here, there were six processors of blue crabmeat. Now, that number has dwindled to a big fat zero. We used to get fresh, beautiful blue crabmeat delivered four or five days a week," says the chef/owner of Louis's at Pawley's, on Pawley's Island, who now buys crabmeat from purveyors in the Chesapeake Bay area. "America is a young country, and we have a lot to learn. One thing we haven't learned yet is to conserve our resources."

Osteen is not alone in his dismay over the state of the oceans. It's nearly impossible for a chef to ignore the issue of seafood sustainability; it can sometimes seem just as impossible to sort out the questions surrounding the issue in order to make good choices. What's endangered? What's thriving? Can chefs serve swordfish, bluefin tuna or Chilean seabass in good conscience? How can you tell if the seafood on your menu was caught in a responsible manner? How will your choices affect the lives of fishermen?

Seafood sustainability is far from a black-and-white issue, with geography, seasonal fluctuation, legislation and new research changing the landscape on a near-daily basis. What follows is a breakdown of the four major factors influencing sustainability, suggestions for the concerned and candid comments on sustainability from chefs across the United States.

Overfishing: Popularity (Nearly) Kills the Fish

According to the Chefs Collaborative Sustainable Seafood Primer, sustainable seafood is defined as "fish and shellfish that are caught or farmed with consideration for the long-term viability of individual marine species and for the ocean's ecological balance as a whole." The demand for a popular species leads to a greater number of the fish being harvested, including sexually immature fish that have not had a chance to reproduce before dying. Regulations are often implemented only after population depletion has reached a crisis point, and there are plenty of black-market fisheries that choose to ignore regulations in pursuit of profit. At present, scientists estimate that "... 70% of the world's commercially-fished species have been fished to or beyond the brink at which their populations can easily sustain themselves." (i) In the case of Patagonian toothfish, also known as Chilean seabass, a species whose females do not reach sexual maturity until the age of 10, there was an aggressive effort in the late 1980's by US and Chilean companies to market this "new" species found in seemingly limitless numbers off the coasts of South America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. (ii) Although the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources has attempted to manage the population by requiring the use of permits for Chilean seabass fishing since 1988, its numbers have dwindled by more than fifty percent since its introduction to the global seafood market. (iii) The National Environmental Trust report asserts, "Market demand and over-exploitation by illegal fishing fleets have dramatically reduced toothfish populations to the point where some populations have already gone commercially extinct, the point at which there is not enough fish to support commercial fishing." North Atlantic swordfish faced similar peril in the 1990's, having for decades been severely overfished and mismanaged nearly to the point of commercial extinction. With the 1999 implementation of international quota restrictions and the closure of swordfish nursery areas to fishing in 2000, however, swordfish populations have made an encouraging, if not yet complete, recovery, according to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), the body responsible for the 10-year recovery plan. (iv) Without the benefit of a similar plan of action, wild Atlantic salmon has been fished nearly out of existence, Gulf Coast red snapper is imperiled, and the highly-prized bluefin tuna is "... slipping off Earth," according to marine biologist Barbara A. Block. (v)

Bycatch: The Nets Don't Know the Difference

Bycatch, or the fish, sea mammals, turtles and birds not targeted but caught nonetheless by certain types of fishing gear, accounts for nearly a third of the living creatures taken in by commercial fishing boats. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization asserts that one in four animals removed from the ocean by fishermen is considered bycatch. (vi) While a fraction of this bycatch is used as food, the majority is returned to the ocean either dead or ailing, as space is too valuable a commodity on most boats to be dedicated to untargeted species. Until consumers pushed for changes to the practice in the early 1990's, tuna fishermen inadvertently (yet routinely) caught and killed thousands of dolphins in pursuit of their prey. According to the Seafood Choices Alliance, an estimated 35 million red snapper per year are caught and discarded by Gulf Coast shrimp fishermen, for whom quotas on total catch and mandates to improve bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) have been deemed too weak. (vii) The Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), a 25-year old organization based in Houston and known for its circumspect approach to fishery issues, recently blasted Gulf Coast fishery managers for continuing to increase limits on red snapper fishing rather than improving BRDs. In a February 2005 press release, CCA chairman Fred Miller stated, "It's now apparent that fiddling with our quotas and seasons is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic." (viii) However, the end of derby-style regulations, wherein all permit-holding fishing vessels are allowed to take in 2,000 pounds of shrimp daily within a 10-day season, seems to be having a positive impact on the problem of red snapper bycatch. "In the past, the derby system encouraged everyone to go out and fish like crazy over a short period of time," explains Paul Johnson, president of Monterey Fish Market. "At its worst, for every pound of shrimp caught, there were ten pounds of red snapper thrown away." Now, with individual quotas given to each boat, to be taken over a greater period of time, Johnson says that there's been a shift from the "... gold-rush mentality. These guys no longer feel the pressure to catch everything as soon as the season opens. They can take it slow and wait until the market offers the best prices."

Habitat Damage: Scraping Rock Bottom

The ocean floor is home to numerous species of valuable sea creatures, including scallops, lobster, crab, cod, flounder, halibut, sole, sea urchins and several varieties of rockfish. The trawling method, in which a weighted net is dragged along the ocean floor, is considered the most efficient way to bag these prize species, but in addition to the problem of bycatch, trawling also wreaks havoc on the very habitat these creatures need to survive and reproduce at sustainable levels. When the geography, plant life and small aquatic creatures of the ocean floor are disturbed or destroyed, it can take hundreds of years without further disturbance to repair the damage. (ix) In Australia, trawling fishermen were responsible for the destruction of a 700-year old coral reef. (x) And the pursuit of wild-caught shrimp, both in the US and abroad, has also contributed to serious habitat destruction. (xi) Fortunately, regulators are beginning to enact legislation designed to protect seabed ecology from destructive fishing methods. At press time, the Pacific Fishery Management Council, a federal fishing regualtion agency, had just voted to impose a permanent ban on trawling in approximately 300,000 square miles of waters off the West Coast of the United States, protecting declining groundfish stocks and their habitat.

Aquaculture: A Problematic Solution

Fish and shellfish farming have expanded exponentially in the last 40 years, a result of the growing burden placed on the world's traditional fisheries. In the United States alone, the value of aquaculture products increased by 400 percent from the early 1980's to the end of the 1990's. (xii) There are benefits to aquaculture, including decreased pressure on overfished species, and new, if not permanent, forms of employment for impoverished coastal communities. The ways in which clams, oysters and mussels are raised and harvested cause little or no environmental damage, and in fact these filterfeeding creatures can leave the water cleaner than before the establishment of shellfish farms. (xiii) However, aquaculture is far from a perfect solution to the problem of overfishing and the world's increasing appetite for seafood.

The tsunami that devastated parts of Southeast Asia in December 2004 had an enormous human impact in the area, with over a quarter million reported dead or missing. Not long after news of the disaster surfaced, environmentalists began to speculate that shrimp farming, along with other forms of coastal development, might have contributed to the staggering death toll. "Ideally, mangrove forests should not be disturbed as they prevent large waves from encroaching too far inland," said Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi to the South China Post as he toured his country's tsunami-ravaged villages. (xiv) In the past 40 years, more than half the world's mangrove forests have been destroyed to make room for shrimp farms in Thailand, Indonesia and India. (xv) With the removal of mangrove forests came not only a loss of habitat for other sea creatures, but also a loss of protection from just the kind of tidal waves that the tsunami brought ashore in these areas. "If only the mangroves were intact, the damage from the tsunami would have been greatly minimized," wrote India-based food and agriculture policy analyst Devinder Sharma in January 2005. (xvi) Sharma went on to cite the example of Bangladesh, where in 1960 a tsunami struck a part of the coast with untouched mangroves, resulting in zero human casualties. A tsunami of the same strength struck the same region, whose mangroves had since been replaced by shrimp farms, 31 years later, killing thousands. What's worse, the average shrimp farm is arable for a maximum of only five years, after which time it is abandoned for a new, pristine coastal area. Shrimp farmers in the United States are subject to stricter environmental laws than their Asian or South American counterparts, but the majority of farmed shrimp consumed in this country is imported. (xvii)

Salmon farming, like shrimp farming, is a relatively new practice, initiated in response to dwindling populations of wild salmon worldwide. Roughly 80% of the salmon consumed in the United States is farmed, with the bulk coming from Chile. (xviii) Unfettered by the environmental and labor laws that drive up the cost of US-farmed salmon, Chilean aquaculturists have lately come under fire for killing off predatory sea lions, for failing to deal with food waste and feces, for flooding the waters with antibiotics and for exploitative labor practices. (xix) The problems are by no means limited to Chile, with US and Canadian salmon farmers facing criticism for their own environmental practices and inattention to the problem of escaping farmed fish. According to a report by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, "In the United States, many cultured marine species are not native to the area where they are being farmed ... there is the possibility that foreign (or genetically-modified) animals or their reproductive offspring may escape and potentially compete or reproduce with wild populations, resulting in unpredictable changes to ecological, biological and behavioral characteristics." (xx) The report also mentions the problems of the infectious anemia virus and sea lice in farmed salmon populations. Scientists in western Canada recently presented evidence that lethal sea lice originating on farmed salmon are easily transmitted to wild populations passing by open-net fish farms. Dr. John Volpe of the University of Victoria, one of the authors of the study, has said that the results are "... the smoking gun. There is no ambiguity in the data whatsoever ... it's clean and it's conclusive." (xxi) Others, however, question the scope of the study, in which only one farm was examined. Robert Scott McKinley, a professor of aquaculture at the University of British Columbia, told the AP that the report "... hints of fear-mongering," (xxii) while Ian McGregor, president of New York seafood wholesaler The Lobster Place, says, "It's a statistically insignificant sample." As a former member of the U.S. Coast Guard, McGregor aided fisheries enforcement in the Atlantic Ocean, and he asserts, "People aren't really aware how much time and money go into managing fish in the United States." Regardless of the considerable resources allotted to the health of fish and the oceans, concerns persist over the current state of aquaculture, both domestically and abroad.

So What Are We Supposed to Do About It?

The amount of information about seafood sustainability, and the rate at which it changes, can be overwhelming and time-consuming to sort out. Fortunately, there are a number of simple steps that chefs can take to contribute to the long-term viability of our oceans, and no shortage of information from dedicated scientific and professional organizations (see list).

Every one of the chefs contacted for this story emphasized the importance of working with trusted purveyors who are prepared to answer questions about their products' provenance and the way in which they were harvested. Seeking out under-utilized fish local to your area is also a good way to take pressure off overfished or unsustainably farmed fish. "There are definitely delicious, versatile fish out there which are not being fished. That's the next direction, to develop the use of those fish," says Patricia Unterman of Hayes Street Grill in San Francisco. Peter Hoffman of New York's Savoy restaurant concurs, while acknowledging, "It's not to say that we don't have to find a balance between what we're interested in serving and what our customers don't want to eat. When I first saw the Audubon list [of seafood to avoid and seafood that's sustainable], everything on the 'avoid' side was on my menu, and everything on the 'acceptable' side was something that I didn't like or had never heard of. Like anything else, it's a process."

MR. BROWN FROM MIDTOWN

ED BROWN

The Sea Grill

New York, NY

To get a sense of where he stands on the issue of sustainability, just ask chef Ed Brown about Chilean seabass. "Not enough people aren't serving it," he says. "I cannot understand when chefs say 'my customers love it too much for me to stop serving it.' What they're really saying is, 'I'm much more dedicated to my money than to the environment.' That's bullshit. People didn't used to come to my restaurant five years ago because I had great Chilean seabass, and they don't stay away because I don't serve it now."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Brown is executive chef of The Sea Grill, which John Mariani of Esquire has called "one of the best restaurants in the world." While he is clearly passionate about sourcing sustainable products for his menu, he's quick to point out that, "I'm not an activist per se. I'm not joining any committees to be the voice of this issue." He takes a moderate stance, for example, when performing a cooking demonstration on the Today show, something he does with some regularity. "It's about being entertaining, not about introducing a political issue," he explains. "It's about simple cooking for the guy watching it in Wyoming, Kansas and Ohio, and it has to make sense to all of them. If I use salmon I might suggest that viewers look for wild salmon, but that's about it."

Brown graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1993, then left for Paris, where he earned the French equivalent of an AOS culinary degree. He returned to the States and cooked for two years at the Sonesta Hotel, on New Orleans' Bourbon Street, then spent another year at the Gold Standard, in Nashville. After two years in New York, as sous chef at Le Parker Meridien's Maurice restaurant under Christian Delouvrier and Alain Senderens, Brown returned to Paris, with Senderens, to assume the role of chef de partie at Lucas Carton. It was there, says Brown, that he was first exposed to Japanese cooking. He explains, "Alain would do an annual voyage, where he'd take two or three of his top people somewhere out of the country and spend a full month there, being a guest chef, absorbing the cuisine and the culture. One year it was Japan, which was the most inspiring to him. The other thing he'd do is bring people back from those voyages so they could learn from the French. At that time, French was where it was at, and the Japanese had all the money, so they could afford to come and teach us. Here I am standing in the middle of all this," he recalls, "picking up the sensibility of how to use certain products, and the simplicity." Brown's Japanese education in Paris is still reflected in the dishes he serves at The Sea Grill, where he's been at the helm since 1994.

The Sea Grill is owned by Restaurant Associates, a fine dining and catering corporation that also oversees food and beverage service for major sporting and entertainment venues. Brown acts as a consulting chef for Restaurant Associates, and every summer he treks out to Arthur Ashe Stadium, in Queens, to oversee food service in all of the facility's restaurants, cafes and bars during the tournament. Of the most upscale options, Aces and Stadium Grill, he says, "They're full-scale restaurants that could exist on their own in New York, except that they're only open for 14 days out of the year," adding that between the two restaurants and a premier catering service, he puts out 1500 covers daily.

"Obviously there's no way I can do it all myself," Brown says. "I work hard at surrounding myself with top people, and I use the resources of my company. A good manager has to be able to multi-task. I think that you don't just find good people; you have to grow them. Rarely do I go out and hire someone for a top spot. I like to grow employees, so that as they come up, they've learned everything there is to know about an organization."

TRADING (FARMERS') FACES

PETER DAVIS

Henrietta's Table

Cambridge, MA

He's a chef known for his commitment to local agriculture, seasonality and sustainable seafood, but Peter Davis likens his award-winning cooking to "slightly fancier diner food."

"I look at diners, and they're the oldest restaurants around," says Davis, executive chef of Henrietta's Table, in the Charles Hotel. "Everybody has a diner that's 25 or 30 years old that they keep going back to. There aren't a lot of restaurants that you keep going back to for 25 or 30 years. Every neighborhood has a diner, and people know what they're gonna have when they go there."

Davis' food is as straightforward and unpretentious as it gets, but you'd be hard-pressed to find such carefully sourced products at your local greasy spoon. Davis is so strongly committed to supporting local farmers, cheesemakers, fishermen and winemakers that he's created a series of cards in their honor. Designed to be tucked in to the check presenter, each card contains a photograph of the farmer, a paragraph of information about their products and methods, and a way for consumers to procure the same littleneck clams or organic greens that Davis has just cooked for them.

"I'd like to see the people who say they support the local farms really start buying from them ... you know, walk the walk instead of talking the talk." Davis refuses to use genetically engineered foods at Henrietta's Table, but acknowledges the advantage he has as a hotel chef. "Owning your own restaurant is a lot more of a headache. I don't have to worry about paying the mortgage every month, or rent. A lot of the freestanding restaurants have headaches that I don't have. They're worrying about other things and maybe can't do as much [with local farmers and organics] as they'd like."

Davis is a native of Boston who spent seven and a half years in Asia, helping to open and run hotel kitchens for Hyatt International properties in Bali, Hong Kong, China, the Philippines and Thailand. Nicknamed "the Yankee chef" by his colleagues, he was hired to introduce American elements to Asian chefs just becoming enamored of what he calls "the California thing." In addition to learning about techniques and ingredients while overseas, Davis picked up an informal education in international labor management. "At first, over in Asia, the labor was so inexpensive that [Hyatt] didn't have to control it for us. Then the economies started building and countries started building and it became more of an issue," he explains. As his two children approached school age, he returned to the States and opened the Peninsula Beverly Hills, where he remained for just over two years. On making the transition from Asia to California, he notes, "The culture shift was really a culture shock, because I wasn't ready for LA. I guess we hit it at the wrong time. We lived there through the riots [of 1992], and it wasn't comfortable, with a family and a couple of young kids." Davis decided to return to his hometown, lured by an offer from the Charles Hotel, which at that time had only one fine dining restaurant, the now-defunct Rarities. He helped to open Rialto (still operating successfully within the Charles, under chef Jody Adams), then began to work with the hotel's owner, Dick Friedman, on opening Henrietta's Table.

"A lot of this concept is his. He's pretty brilliant. He has ideas and visions, and it's people like myself that have to take it down and make it into a business that works," Davis explains. The restaurant, opened in 1995, was named for a pet pig that Friedman once kept at his Martha's Vineyard home.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Now in his tenth year at the restaurant, Davis has retained a number of current staff members since the opening day. He's adamant about promoting from within whenever possible, but also recognizes the need for an occasional infusion of ideas from outside. "I'll hire sous chefs from the outside because of their cooking knowledge or what they can bring in, in terms of new ideas. I learn something every day from these guys," he says. "I don't know everything, and I don't want to know everything. My approach is, use just a few ingredients, start with good stuff and don't torture it."

FOCUSING ON THE FISH

MASATO SHIMIZU

Jewel Bako

New York, NY

Masato Shimizu is a master of surprising parallels. "French food is very beautiful," he says as he cuts the evening's fish, his hands and knife and the gleaming flesh dancing just above his wooden board. He continues, "I think French food and Japanese food are very close. Not sushi, but the Japanese kaiseki style, the little by little service, the beauty and details, it's like the French canapes. Italian food and Chinese food are very close. Lots of noodles, there is a big plate, everyone shares." He stands behind the sushi bar at Jewel Bako, clad in sneakers, a white t-shirt and well-worn chef's pants, and but for the work he's doing so well, the 29-year old chef could be easily mistaken for a teenager fresh off the neighboring East Village streets. Twenty minutes later, though, when he's traded his t-shirt for an impeccable chef coat, and the heavy clack of his traditional wooden geta shoes signals his readiness for service, Shimizu couldn't be anything but the man in charge.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Born and raised in Japan's Gunma prefecture, Shimizu first took an interest in cooking when a sushi chef uncle came for a visit, bringing with him a huge bluefin tuna. He expertly broke it down in front of his young nephew, permanently hooking the youngster on the culture of fish. "I thought it was so cool. I wanted to do it myself," he recalls. He put in seven years at a Tokyo sushi restaurant, then left Japan and headed for the States. His first job was on the north shore of Long Island, at Benten, in the city of Mount Sinai, and after six months he headed west to Kisso, in New Hyde Park. After another six months, Shimizu ventured further west, answering an ad in a Manhattan-based Japanese-language newspaper, and finding himself part of the small staff at Jewel Bako. The restaurant, open since 2001, is the flagship of a collection owned and operated by husband and wife team Jack and Grace Lamb. Jewel Bako was the first, and it has since been joined by Jewel Bako Makimono, a casual offshoot of the original; Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar, a New Orleans-influenced raw bar in a 19th-century coach house; and Grace's Kalbi Bar, a Korean barbecue place that, according to Mr. Lamb, was borne of his wife's heritage and her desire to have her own eponymous restaurant.

At Jewel Bako, says Shimizu, he creates "... real traditional sushi, not fusion, not some kind of crazy sauce." He pauses for a moment, then adds, "It's 90% traditional, and maybe 10% in [the] American style." He'll use creme fraiche in a sauce, he says, but not cream cheese, which fortifies all sorts of Americanized nori rolls in less-authentic sushi restaurants. He takes the demands of fussy eaters and restricted diet types in stride, saying, "If you are vegetarian and you come to a sushi restaurant, it is hard, but we'll make a salad, maybe a cucumber roll. Many people don't like sea urchin or raw eggs, but we try to make it appealing [to those people]. I mix mackerel with miso or scallion, [so] it's not so fishy. I find Americans like a smooth tasting fish." As for his involvement with service, which can be a challenge in Jewel Bako's tiny, vault-ceilinged dining room, Shimizu prefers to work in parallel to the Lambs. "I never touch service because Jack knows I make good sushi, I know Jack makes a nice service, and I always trust him. He knows me, I know him, and it's a good partnership. I never worry about it."

i Stephens, Francine. "Seafood Solutions: A Chef's Guide to Ecologically Responsible Fish Procurement." Chefs Collaborative in partnership with Environmental Defense, 2004.

ii "Black Market for White Gold: the illegal trade in Chilean seabass." National Environmental Trust, September 2004.

iii Ibid.

iv Prewitt, Milford. "Chefs still on guard about swordfish as species recovers." Nations Restaurant News. November 4, 2002.

v Revkin, Andrew C. "Tracking the Imperiled Bluefin From Ocean to Sushi Platter." New York Times. May 3, 2005.

vi Monterey Bay Aquarium: Seafood Watch Program (www.mbayaq.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_bycatch.asp).

vii Pike, Doug. "Red Snapper Recovery Strategy Needs Work." Houston Chronicle. February 6, 2005.

viii Ibid

ix "PCC Natural Markets and the Seattle Aquarium Launch New Sustainable Seafood Program." Business Wire. September 28, 2004.

x Monterey Bay Aquarium: Seafood Watch Program (www.mbayaq.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_hd.asp).

xi Levitt, Jonathan. "Seize the Moment for Maine Shrimp." Boston Globe. February 16, 2005.

xii U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. "An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century" pg 330. September 20, 2004.

xiii Monterey Bay Aquarium: Seafood Watch Program (www.mbayaq.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_ac.asp).

xiv Kuppusamy, Baradan. "Life-saving mangroves to be protected." South China Morning Post. January 11, 2005.

xv Sharma, Devinder. "Outside View: Tsunami, Mangroves & Economy." UPI. January 10, 2005.

xvi Ibid.

xvii Monterey Bay Aquarium: Seafood Watch Program Seafood Guide (www.mbayaq.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_factsheet.asp).

xviii Schoen, Gwen. "Panel weighs in on costs, benefits of salmon farming." Sacramento Bee. May 18, 2005

xix Langman, Jimmy. "'Atlantic salmon' a fishy tale." San Francisco Chronicle. April 1, 2002.

xx U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, pg 331.

xxi Hume, Mark. "Team links farmed fish to outbreak." Globe and Mail. March 30, 2005.

xxii Heilprin, John. "Study: Salmon from farms breed sea lice." Associated Press Online. March 31, 2005.

For more specific information on sustainable seafood, contact the following organizations:

****BLUE OCEAN INSTITUTE FROM SEA TO TABLE PROGRAM: Among its many conservation programs, provides an online and printed guide to ocean-friendly seafood for chefs and consumers. 250 Lawrence Hill Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, [phone], www.blueoceaninstitute.org.

****CAVIAR EMPTOR: Aims to protect and restore threatened Caspian Sea Sturgeon. A 33-page report, entitled Roe to Ruin: The Decline of the Caspian Sea Sturgeon and the Road to Recovery, can be downloaded from the website, www.caviaremptor.org.

****CHEFS COLLABORATIVE SEAFOOD SOLUTIONS INITIATIVE: Educates chefs about elements of a sustainable aquatic food system. Has produced two documents, The Sustainable Seafood Primer and Seafood Solutions (in partnership with Environmental Defense and the David and Lucille Packard Foundation), both of which can be down-loaded from the Chefs Collaborative website, 262 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02116; Tel [phone], www.chefscollaborative.org.

****COASTAL ALLIANCE FOR AQUACULTURE REFORM: Through consumer outreach and grassroots campaigning, aims to protect wild salmon, coastal ecosystems, coastal communities and human health from effects of fish farming. Offers staff education sessions to restaurants and retailers in Vancouver and San Francisco areas. 207 West Hastings, Suite 515, Vancouver, BC V6B 1H7. Tel: [phone], www.farmedanddangerous.org.

****GULF RESTORATION NETWORK: Provides members of the Gulf community with technical information, networking opportunities and communication on issues of pollution, development, species management and sustainable fisheries management. Publishes and distributes a quarterly newsletter, Fish Tales, free of charge via postal mail or website. 338 Baronne Street, Suite 200, New Orleans, LA 70112. Tel: [phone], www.healthygulf.org.

****MARINE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL: Global non-profit working to enhance responsible management of seafood resources and marine ecosystem. Developed eco-label to be applied to seafood that meets standards of sustainability defined by FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. International office: Unit 4 Bakery Place, 119 Altenburg Gardens, London, SW11 1JQ United Kingdom. Tel: + 44 (0)20 7350 4000, www.msc.org.

****MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM SEAFOOD WATCH PROGRAM: A program designed to raise awareness about importance of buying from sustainable sources. Develops well-researched recommendations about which seafood to buy or avoid. Produces and distributes (free of charge or downloadable from website) national and region-specific cards to guide buyers looking to make sustainable choices. 886 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA 93940. Toll-free hotline: [phone], www.mbayaq.org.

****SEAFOOD CHOICES ALLIANCE: Non-profit trade association that educates, connects and mobilizes leaders of seafood industry in pursuit of long-term sustainable seafood supply and ocean health. Members may download buying guide, Sourcing Seafood, from website. 1731 Connecticut Avenue NW, 4th floor, Washington, DC 20009. Tel: [phone], www.seafoodchoices.com/sourcingseafood.

RELATED ARTICLE: What Chefs Are Saying (And Doing) About Seafood Sustainability

Why is it important to you as a chef to serve sustainably-fished or sustainably-farmed seafood to your guests?

"In a period of 26 years, I have seen whole populations of fish disappear. It was hugely sad to me, and I hated to think that I was unwittingly part of that process."

Patricia Unterman, Executive Chef/Co-Owner, Hayes Street Grill, San Francisco, CA

"It's about doing the right thing. Over the time that I've been cooking, I've seen more types of fish become available because of overnight shipping and whatnot, but ... I've seen the size of large cod drop dramatically. Large cod was once upwards of 20 pounds. Now it's as low as 12 pounds."

Michael Leviton, Executive Chef/Owner, Lumiere, Boston, MA

"Six and a half years ago, I was getting 30 to 40-pound Chilean sea bass. When 8 and 10-pound fish start showing up, that's obviously questionable. If we could just leave [the existing population] alone for the next five years, it would be so plentiful."

Randy Zweiban, Executive Chef/Partner, Nacional 27, Chicago, IL

"It goes beyond just seafood. I think that it's important that we're aware of the decisions that we make as we're living, and have some awareness about the effects they have on other people, the planet and ourselves."

Peter Hoffman, national chairman of Chefs Collaborative, Executive Chef/Owner, Savoy, New York, NY

"Fish is our last wild food, and we need to preserve it for as long as we can."

Nora Pouillon, Executive Chef/Owner, Restaurant Nora and Asia Nora, Washington, DC

How do you balance the use of sustainable seafood with maintaining a reasonable food cost?

"Unfortunately we can't charge our customers more because we know something is sustainable, but we try to use smaller portions. There are bargains sometimes, if you work the market."

Guillermo Pernot, Executive Chef/Partner, !Pasion!, Philadelphia, PA

"We have the luxury of running a high price tag on our menu items, which allows us to source quality ingredients that have been harvested in an environmentally sound way and have been well taken care of."

Jonathan Cartwright, Executive Chef, The White Barn Inn, Kennebunkport, ME

"The food cost issue is always difficult ... Sustainable fishing and agriculture obviously cost a little more, but [they are] better products. If you can earn the reputation in your restaurant of offering quality, the majority of people tend to understand what you're trying to do. But I'm not saying that it isn't a difficult balance, because it is."

Debbie Gold, Executive Chef/Co-Owner, 40 Sardines, Overland Park, KS

"I haven't found that to be a problem, really. It's not so much about using things that are more expensive. In Seattle we have good enough distribution lines from the South Pacific, Hawaii and Fiji, so we're not having things special-shipped."

Christine Keff, Executive Chef/Owner, Flying Fish, Scattle, WA

How do you make decisions about what seafood to offer or avoid on your menu?

"I use the Internet, and my local purveyors keep me informed."

Mark Swomley, Executive Chef, The Carlton, Pittsburgh, PA

"We abide by government regulations, and we talk to fishermen, who sometimes have different stories than the government. We also do our own research and reading."

Jonathan Cartwright

"I belong to a lot of seafood organizations, like SeaWeb and the Seafood Choices Alliance. The Monterey Bay Aquarium gives out a seafood guide, and this is a very good thing. If you have any questions about what to buy, you can just call them up. I also ask a lot of questions of my purveyors."

Nora Pouillon

"What I like to do is buy as much as I can from local people."

Louis Osteen, Executive Chef/Owner, Louis's at Pawley's, Pawley's Island, SC

"We keep an eye on the magazines and newspapers. I also try to listen for and filter out the bullshit."

Jerry Weinberg, Executive Chef/Owner, Five Spice Cafe, Burlington, VT

RELATED ARTICLE: Wild Salmon Konbu with Periwinkles, Shiitake Fries and Lobster Froth (Serves 6)

ED BROWN

Chardonnay

Hanzell Vineyards

Sonoma, CA 2001

directions

For the wild salmon konbu: Brush salmon with butter to coat. Place each portion on one konbu sheet. Sprinkle fish with seeds and top with shiso. Distribute soy evenly over each portion and sprinkle with fleur de sel. Fold konbu around salmon, seam side down, to form package. Refrigerate until ready to cook.

For the periwinkles: Combine all ingredients in medium pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook three minutes. Drain, reserving one cup cooking liquid, and cool to room temperature. Using toothpick, pin or point of knife, remove meat from shells and place in reserved liquid. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

For the shiitake fries: In deep-fryer or tall-sided pot, heat oil to 325 degrees. Dust mushrooms with two tablespoons flour. In bowl, combine remaining flour, club soda, eggs and whisk together. Dip mushrooms in batter, shake off excess and cook in oil two minutes. Drain on paper towels and let cool to room temperature. Heat oil to 375 degrees. Return mushrooms to oil and cook until golden brown and crispy, about three minutes. Drain on paper towels and season with salt.

For the lobster foam: In blender, combine cold milk and roe and blend on high speed. With motor still running add stock. Squeeze excess water from gelatin and add to blender. Season mixture with salt and cayenne to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To finish: Steam salmon konbu packages three minutes. Transfer to plate, seam side up, and open konbu. Gently warm periwinkles and cooking liquid in small pot over medium heat. Spoon periwinkles and liquid over salmon. Puree lobster foam mixture in blender at high speed 30 to 40 seconds. Spoon foam around salmon. Arrange fries alongside.

For garnish: Garnish with sea beans and celery leaves and serve immediately.

ingredients

For the wild salmon konbu:

2 1/4 pounds wild King salmon, cut into 6 equal portions
2 tablespoons butter, softened
6 6X3-inch sheets fresh konbu*
1 teaspoon celery seeds
12 fresh shiso leaves
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Fleur de sel to taste

For the periwinkles:

3 cups live periwinkles
1 quart water
1 cup white wine
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon sea salt

For the shiitake fries:

5 cups canola oil
1 pound baby shiitake mushrooms
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups club soda
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon Kosher salt

For the lobster foam:

3/4 cup skim milk
3 tablespoons lobster roe
1 1/4 cup fish stock, hot
1/2 sheet gelatin, softened in cold water
Fleur de sel and cayenne pepper to taste

To finish:

Salmon konbu, from above
Periwinkles, from above
Lobster foam, from above

For garnish:

Sea beans, soaked 30 minutes in cold water and warmed in butter
Pickled yellow celery leaves

*Dark, thick, slightly sweet Japanese seaweed, sold dried; available in Asian markets and health food stores.

RELATED ARTICLE: Pan-Roasted Wild Salmon, Porcinis, Marrow and Red Wine Sauce (Serves 6)

ED BROWN

Sassicaia

Tenuta San Guida

Tuscany, Italy 2000

directions

For the salmon: In a large non-reactive saute pan, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add salmon, garlic and thyme and cook 2 1/2 minutes. Turn fish, reduce heat to medium and cook 3 1/2 minutes, basting constantly. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

For the red wine sauce: In non-reactive saucepan, combine wine, herbs, pepper and calf's foot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until reduced to 2/3 cup. Remove from heat, whisk in butter and season with salt and pepper. Strain through fine-mesh sieve three times and set aside, keeping warm.

For the porcinis: In large non-reactive saute pan, heat oil over medium heat, add mushrooms and cook until golden brown on all sides. Drain excess oil, add remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, toss one minute and transfer to plate. Keep warm.

For the Serrano tuile: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Arrange ham on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper and cover with another layer of paper. Bake 15 minutes, remove and let cool.

For the artichokes: In non-reactive pot, combine artichokes, water and lemon and simmer until artichokes are tender. Remove from heat and let artichokes cool slightly in cooking liquid. Drain, remove outer leaves and choke and cut each into eight pieces. Combine artichokes, garlic, oil, parsley and salt and pepper to taste and keep warm.

For the marrow: In non-reactive saucepan, bring stock to simmer. Cut each piece of marrow into four equal pieces. Poach in stock three minutes and season with fleur de sel and pepper.

To serve: Place one portion salmon atop two pieces of artichoke in center of plate and arrange remaining artichokes around plate. Drizzle wine sauce around plate. Arrange porcinis alongside salmon. Place marrow atop salmon and garnish with tuiles. Serve immediately.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

ingredients

For the salmon:

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 1/4 pounds wild King salmon, cut into 6 equal portions
2 cloves garlic, peeled
8 sprigs thyme
Fleur de sel and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the red wine sauce:

3 cups full-bodied red wine
1/2 sprig rosemary
2 sprigs thyme
8 black peppercorns
1/2 split calf's foot, cut into 2-inch segments
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the porcinis:

1/2 cup olive oil
12 large porcini mushrooms, cut into large pieces
3 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons coarsely chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon coarsely chopped chervil
2 teaspoons butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the Serrano tuile:

6 thin slices Serrano ham, cut into 1 1/2-inch squares

For the artichokes:

3 large fresh artichokes, trimmed and stems peeled
2 quarts salted water
1 lemon, cut into three pieces
2 cloves garlic, peeled and bruised
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the marrow:

2 cups white veal stock
6 2 to 3-inch pieces fresh veal marrow, soaked in salted acidulated
  water 36 hours
Fleur de sel and freshly ground black pepper to taste

RELATED ARTICLE: Crispy-Skinned Salmon with Frisee Salad and Grilled Spring Onions (Serves 6)

ED BROWN

Riesling Frederic Cuvee Emile

Trimbach

Alsace, France 1999

directions

For the salmon: Combine soy sauce, kecap manis and celery seeds in large non-reactive dish and add salmon, skin side down. Refrigerate one hour.

For the verjus glaze: In non-reactive saucepan, combine verjus and sugar, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook until reduced to 1/2 cup. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper. Strain through fine-mesh sieve three times and set aside, keeping warm.

For the frisee salad: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place bacon on sheet pan and cook until crisp. On separate sheet pan, combine potatoes, half the oil and herbs and toss to coat. Season with fleur de sel and roast until potatoes are tender. In large bowl combine bacon, potatoes, fava beans, frisee, remaining oil, vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

For the grilled spring onions: Preheat grill to medium-hot. Coat onions in oil and grill, cut side down, until tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve: Preheat broiler to medium-hot. Remove salmon from marinade and pat dry. Cook salmon under broiler, about eight inches from flame, until skin is crisp and flesh is cooked medium-rare, about 4 1/2 minutes. Transfer to carving board and use very sharp knife to divide fish into portions along scoring lines. Season each portion with salt and pepper and transfer to plates. Divide frisee salad and grilled spring onions among plates and drizzle each serving with verjus glaze. Serve immediately.

ingredients

For the salmon:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons kecap manis*
1 teaspoon celery seeds
2 1/4 pounds wild King salmon, skin on, scored into five equal portions

For the verjus glaze:

3 cups red verjus**
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the frisee salad:

6 thick slices bacon, cut into lardons
2 1/2 cups marble potatoes***
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
1 teaspoon fleur de sel
1/3 cup cleaned and blanched fava beans
1 head frisee, torn into bite-size pieces
1 teaspoon Cabernet vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the grilled spring onions:

9 small spring onions, greens trimmed to 4-inch lengths, split
  lengthwise
2 teaspoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

*A thick, soy-based sauce used in Indonesian cooking, sweetened with palm sugar and often seasoned with garlic. Available in Asian markets.

**Fresh juice of unripe wine grapes, used in sauces, vinaigrettes or to add acidity to cooked dishes. Available through Chef Shop, [phone] or www.chefshop.com.

***Small, round potatoes, available through The Chef's Garden, [phone] or www.chefs-garden.com.

RELATED ARTICLE: Confit of Wild Salmon with Olives, White Beans and Tomatoes (Serves 6)

ED BROWN

Gigondas

Chateau de Montmirail

Vacqueyras, France 2000

directions

For the confit of wild salmon: In non-reactive saucepan, heat oil to 128 degrees. Add salmon and cook over low heat until oil is 120 degrees, then remove pan to warm spot. Fish is done when warmed to center, about 12 minutes.

For the white bean topping: In small non-reactive saucepan, heat oil and rosemary over low heat two minutes. Remove and discard rosemary and add beans. Mix well to form smooth puree, season with salt and pepper and keep warm.

For the tomato topping: In non-reactive saucepan heat oil, garlic and thyme over low heat. Add tomatoes and simmer until completely melted, about 15 minutes. Remove and discard thyme, season with salt and pepper and keep warm.

For the olive topping: Fold ingredients together to form smooth paste, season with pepper and set aside in warm place.

For the garlic chips: In non-reactive saucepan, combine one cup milk and garlic and bring to boil. Strain, rinse garlic under running water and repeat twice with remaining milk. In small non-reactive saute pan, warm oil over medium heat, add blanched garlic and toast until light golden. Drain on paper towels, season with salt and keep warm.

To finish: Place three squares salmon confit on each plate and top each with a quenelle of either olive, bean or tomato topping. Garnish each with garlic chips and garnish plate with rosemary, olives and balsamic vinegar. Serve immediately.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

ingredients

For the confit of wild salmon:

3 quarts olive oil
2 1/4 pounds wild King salmon, cut into 18 1 1/4-inch squares

For the white bean topping:

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 sprig rosemary
1 cup cooked large white beans, passed through food mill
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the tomato topping:

2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and very thinly sliced
3 sprigs thyme
9 plum tomatoes, cored, peeled, halved and seeded
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the olive topping:

2/3 cup oil-cured black olives, pitted and finely chopped
2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the garlic chips:

3 cups milk
6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup olive oil
Fleur de sel to taste

For garnish:

18 tiny rosemary sprigs
1/2 cup oil-cured olives, pitted
6 tablespoons high-quality aged balsamic vinegar

RELATED ARTICLE: New England Lobster Bake (Serves 4)

PETER DAVIS

Sauvignon Blanc

Cakebread Cellars

Napa Valley, California 2003

directions

For the lobster bake: Preheat charcoal grill. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook potatoes in boiling, salted water for five minutes. Drain and cool to room temperature. Lay cheesecloth on work surface. Place two potatoes, one lobster, a half pound clams and one ear corn on each piece. Draw up edges to form a sack and secure tightly with twine. Repeat to form four sacks. Place seaweed in bottom of a heavy-bottomed pan large enough to hold four lobster sacks. Place sacks atop seaweed and cover pan with aluminum foil. Place pan on grill and cook for ten minutes. Remove and transfer to oven for 15 minutes, or until lobster is cooked through. Remove sacks from pan.

To serve: Serve immediately with butter and lemon.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

ingredients

For the lobster bake:

8 medium red potatoes
4 18-inch squares of cheesecloth
4 1 1/2 pound lobsters
2 pounds steamer clams, scrubbed
4 ears sweet corn, peeled
Butcher's twine
1 pound seaweed

To serve:

1 pound butter, melted
2 lemons, halved

RELATED ARTICLE: Pat's Clams, Mussels, Chorizo and Tomatoes (Serves 4)

PETER DAVIS

Big House Pink

Bonny Doon

Santa Cruz, California 2004

directions

For the clams, mussels, chorizo and tomatoes: Heat oil in saute pan over high heat, add garlic and thyme and cook one minute. Add clams, mussels and chorizo and cook five minutes. Add stock and tomatoes, cover and cook until clams and mussels open, about five minutes. Add basil and season with salt and pepper. Divide seafood among four bowls, ladle remaining ingredients over each serving and serve immediately.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

ingredients

For the clams, mussels, chorizo and tomatoes:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
24 Pat's countneck clams, scrubbed and rinsed*
32 Prince Edward Island mussels, scrubbed and rinsed
4 ounces chorizo, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 cups chicken stock
2 pounds Heirloom tomatoes, assorted colors, cored and cut into
  1/4-inch cubes
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

*A small clam from Wellfleet, Massachusetts; may substitute cherrystone clams.

RELATED ARTICLE: Seared Wild King Salmon with Beach Plum Sauce and Pumpkin Ginger Slaw (Serves 6)

PETER DAVIS

Pinot Noir

La Crema

Anderson Valley, California 2003

directions

For the pumpkin ginger slaw: In large bowl, whisk together cider, vinegar and apple butter. Add pumpkin, apples, ginger and chervil, toss to coat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside at room temperature until ready to serve.

For the beach plum sauce: In saucepan, combine jelly, water and vinegar and bring to a simmer. Cook 10 minutes, season with salt and pepper and set aside.

For the salmon: Season salmon on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat oil in cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Sear fish on one side five minutes, then turn and sear other side five minutes.

To serve: Place slaw in center of plate and top with one portion of salmon. Drizzle with sauce, garnish with chervil and serve immediately.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

ingredients

For the pumpkin ginger slaw:

1/4 cup apple cider
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup unsweetened apple butter
1 pound sugar pumpkin, cleaned and finely julienned
2 Macoun apples, peeled, cored and finely julienned
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped pink pickled ginger*
2 tablespoons chervil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

For the beach plum sauce:

10 ounces beach plum jelly**
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

For the salmon:

6 7-ounce portions wild king salmon, cleaned
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

For garnish:

Chervil leaves

*Available in Asian markets.

**Made from a very tart, dark purple plum that grows wild along the Atlantic coast. Available through Cape Cod Traveler Foods, [phone] or www.capecodtravelerfoods.com.

RELATED ARTICLE: Pizza of Maine Rock Crab and Sea Salt (Serves 8)

PETER DAVIS

White Riesling

Stony Hill Vineyard

Napa Valley, California 2003

directions

For the pizza dough: In bowl of electric mixer fitted with dough hook, combine water and yeast and mix to dissolve. With machine running, slowly drizzle in olive oil. Add flours, followed by sugar and salt. Mix with dough hook until gluten is developed, about 10 minutes. Turn off machine, cover with damp towel and let rest 30 minutes. Cut dough into four equal pieces, cut each piece in half, and roll each piece into a ball. Let rest 10 minutes, covered. Preheat convection oven to 350 degrees. With rolling pin, roll each piece flat. Brush each piece with olive oil and top with dulse. Let dough rest 20 minutes. Transfer to pizza pans and bake in over about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

For the pizza topping: Spread top of each cooked pizza with creme fraiche. Layer tomatoes atop each pizza. Arrange crabmeat on each pizza.

To serve: Garnish with arugula, oil, dulse and sea salt and serve.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

ingredients

For the pizza dough:

1 1/4 cups water
1/2 ounce fresh yeast
3 ounces olive oil
14 ounces all-purpose flour
4 3/4 ounces bread flour
5/8 ounce granulated sugar
1/3 ounce salt
Olive oil, for brushing
1/4 ounce dulse, softened in cold water and finely chopped*

For the pizza topping:

Cooked pizza dough, from above
4 ounces creme fraiche
2 vine-ripened red tomatoes, cored and thinly sliced
2 vine-ripened yellow tomatoes, cored and thinly sliced
2 pounds fresh Maine rock crab led meat, cooked and cooled

For garnish:

4 ounces arugula
2 ounces extra virgin olive oil
1/2 ounce dulse, softened in cold water and coarsely chopped*
Sea salt to taste

*Dulse is a seaweed native to the British Isles that has a reddish-brown color and coarse texture. Available in health food stores.

RELATED ARTICLE: Smoked Bay Scallop Chowder with Dulse and Wheat Berry Crackers (Serves 4)

PETER DAVIS

Pinot Blanc

Willakenzie Estate Winery

Yamhill, Oregon 2002

directions

For the smoked bay scallop chowder: In large pot, cook bacon over medium heat until fat is rendered and meat is slightly browned. Add onions and cook two minutes. Deglaze with wine and reduce by 1/3. Add stock, cream, dulse, thyme, potatoes and chili flakes and bring to a simmer. Add smoked scallops and cook through. Season with salt and pepper.

For the dulse and wheat berry crackers: Preheat convection oven to 300 degrees. In small saute pan, heat butter over medium-low heat and add onions. Cook over medium-low heat until caramelized. In bowl of food processor fitted with metal blade, combine onions and wheat berries and puree. Transfer mixture to bowl, add flour, water, dulse and salt, and mix by hand or with wooden spoon until mixture just comes together. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate 30 minutes. Roll dough out to 1/16-inch thickness. Brush one side of dough with olive oil and cut into 1/8-inch wide strips. Twist each strip several times and place on sheet pan. Bake in oven until golden brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle immediately with Kosher salt.

To serve: Place one scallop in shell in each bowl and cover with hot chowder. Garnish with crackers and spring onions and serve immediately.

ingredients

For the smoked bay scallop chowder:

4 ounces bacon, thickly julienned
6 spring onions, white part only, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups white wine
1 cup chicken stock
3 cups heavy cream
Pinch of dulse*
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
6 to 8 new potatoes, boiled until tender and drained
Pinch of red chili flakes
6 ounces smoked scallops
Salt and pepper to taste

For the dulse and wheat berry crackers:

2 tablespoons clarified butter
1/2 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
5 ounces cooked and cooled wheat berries
8 ounces high gluten flour
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup dulse, softened in cold water and finely chopped*
2/3 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
Kosher salt to taste

To serve:

4 live scallops in shell, rinsed and steamed two minutes
Spring onions, finely chopped

*Dulse is a seaweed native to the British Isles that has a reddish-brown color and coarse texture. Available in health food stores.

RELATED ARTICLE: Sake-Poached Octopus with Sea Salt (Serves 8)

MASATO SHIMIZU

"The Garden of the Divine" Sake

Taisetsu Junmai Ginjo

Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan NV

directions

For the sake-poached octopus: Place octopus on clean work surface. Covering all areas of body and using very clean hands, massage octopus, using 500 strokes. Transfer octopus to large pot, and add cold water to cover halfway. Add remaining ingredients and more water if necessary to cover octopus completely. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat 40 minutes, or until thickest part of tentacle is tender. Remove from heat and transfer briefly to ice bath to stop cooking but not to completely chill.

To serve: Remove and thinly slice tentacles and body, discarding mouth area, eyes and any remaining viscera. Serve with sea salt alongside.

ingredients

For the sake-poached octopus:

3 pound octopus, cleaned
6 cups sake
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar

To serve:

Sea salt

RELATED ARTICLE: Baby Japanese Red Snapper with Egg Yolks (Serves 4)

MASATO SHIMIZU

Pinot Noir

El Molino Winery

St. Heleno, CA 2001

directions

For the egg yolks: Using finest holes of box grater or microplane grater, grate yolks into mixing bowl. Gently drizzle vinegar over yolks and sprinkle sugar and salt on top. Fold gently to incorporate ingredients but do not overmix.

To serve: Place one portion of snapper in center of each plate. Sprinkle seasoned yolks around fish and serve with soy sauce alongside.

ingredients

For the egg yolks:

2 hard boiled egg yolks
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
Pinch of granulated sugar
Pinch of salt

To serve:

4 3-ounce pieces baby Japanese red snapper, scored
Egg yolks, from above
Soy sauce

RELATED ARTICLE: Poached Sea Eel with Nitsume Sauce and Tempura Bones (Serves 4)

MASATO SHIMIZU

Gigondas

Domaine Etienne Guigal

Rhone Valley, France 2001

directions

For the poached sea eel: Place eel in large pot and add cold water to cover by one inch. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook over low heat until fish is just cooked through, about 20 minutes. Remove eel and set aside. Set aside one cup poaching liquid, and reserve remaining liquid separately.

For the nitsume sauce: In saucepot, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook two to three hours, until sauce has glaze consistency. Keep warm.

For the tempura bones: In deep-fryer or tall-sided pot, combine oils and heat to 375 degrees. Dredge bones in katakuri ko to coat, slightly moistening bones with reserved liquid if necessary to make starch adhere. Fry in oil 30 seconds, until coating is crispy and light golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.

To serve: Brush eel on skin side with nitsume sauce and warm briefly under broiler. Place one portion eel in center of each plate and lean two bones against each serving. Serve immediately.

ingredients

For the poached sea eel:

16 ounces sea eel, cut into 4 equal portions
Water, as needed

For the nitsume sauce:

1 cup eel poaching liquid, from above
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup granulated sugar

For the tempura bones:

4 cups vegetable oil
1/2 cup sesame oil
8 3-inch long sea eel bones
1/2 cup katakuri ko*

*A Japanese starch powder traditionally made from dogtooth violet. The majority is currently made from potatoes. Available in Japanese markets or from Asian Food Grocer, [phone] or www.asianfoodgrocer.com.

RELATED ARTICLE: Japanese Bonito with Mitsuba Salad and Tosazu Jelly (Serves 4)

MASATO SHIMIZU

"Pride of the Village" Sake

Sato No Homare Junmai Ginjo

Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan NV

directions

For the tosazu jelly: In saucepot, combine water, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and konbu and bring to a boil. Remove and discard konbu and stir in bonito flakes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Strain and transfer to clean saucepot. Bring to a simmer. Squeeze excess water from gelatin and stir into hot mixture. Continue to stir until dissolved. Continue to stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and pour mixture into small glass baking dish. Refrigerate until set.

For the mitsuba salad: In mixing bowl, combine mitsuba, cucumber and myoga and drizzle with ponzu sauce to taste. Toss to coat with sauce.

To serve: Arrange four slices bonito on center of plate. Top fish with salad and spoon jelly alongside. Garnish salad with micro herbs and serve immediately.

ingredients

For the tosazu jelly:

1 cup water
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup light soy sauce
Pinch of granulated sugar
1 sheet konbu*
Pinch of bonito flakes
2 1/2 sheets gelatin, softened in cold water

For the mitsuba salad:

2 ounces mitsuba**
2 ounces Japanese cucumber, julienned
2 ounces young myoga, shaved***
Ponzu sauce to taste

To serve:

8 ounces Japanese bonito, sliced into 16 pieces
Mitsuba salad, from above
Tosazu jelly, from above
Micro herbs

*Dark, thick, slightly sweet Japanese seaweed, sold dried; available in Asian markets and health food stores.

**Also known as Japanese parsley. Flavor recalls carrot, celery, cilantro and sorrel. Available in Asian markets.

***Wild Japanese ginger whose young shoots are crisp and have fresh ginger flavor. Available in Asian markets.

RELATED ARTICLE: Gilled Pen Shell Scallops with Toasted Nori (Serves 4)

MASATO SHIMIZU

Riesling "Butterfly"

Zilliken

Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany 2003

directions

For the grilled pen shell scallops: Preheat hichirin (ceramic charcoal grill) or broiler. In small bowl, combine soy and yuzu sauces and add scallops. Marinate 15 minutes, then drain and pat dry, reserving marinade. Place scallops on grill, cook one minute per side, then dredge scallops in marinade and return to grill. Cook 30 seconds per side and remove from grill.

To serve: Season scallops with shichimi and arrange on plate. Serve with nori and soy sauce alongside.

ingredients

For the grilled pen shell scallops:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup yuzu sauce
4 pen shell scallops, sliced crosswise into 3 pieces each*

To serve:

1 tablespoon shichimi**
2X4-inch rectangles toasted nori***
Soy sauce

*Triangle-shaped scallop native to Japan, India, Australia, Indonesia and the Caribbean.

**Seasoning blend containing red chili flakes, sesame seeds, dried seaweed, dried Mandarin orange or tangerine peel, black hemp seeds and white poppy seeds. Available in Asian markets.

***Mild-flavored seaweed, pressed into sheets, used to form sushi rolls or as a garnish. Available in Asian markets.