On to the next…

Hello! My name is Seryna and I have been the author behind the blog A School of Possibilities: A College Student's Guide to Local Seafood. Over the last year, I have had an amazing experience working at Eating with the Ecosystem and authoring this blog post. This blog allowed me to enhance my creativity, understand the importance of community outreach, and exposed me to an abundance of local seafood that I now incorporate into my daily life! I even have a new favorite local species! My favorite is skate! 

In this role, I have been able to share all the amazing things that I have been doing and learning about with the Eating with the Ecosystem Community and beyond. It has been so exciting to know that I have been able to reach so many people to share this great experience! 

With that being said, I am currently wrapping up my senior year at the college of the Holy Cross with a major in Environmental Studies. My goals for my future have been heavily influenced by my experience working at Eating with the Ecosystem. My passion for mission-driven work has led me to pursue a career in environmental nonprofit, so I am very excited to announce that starting this summer, I will begin my professional career with the Trustees of Reservations, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit with a mission to protect and restore the natural spaces of the state for all to enjoy. With the Trustees, I will be working as a Development Associate in the Boston office to further enhance my understanding of the nonprofit space and continue my passion for mission-driven work! That being said, however, this will be my last post on this blog.

Although my time with Eating with the Ecosystem and this blog is coming to an end, I am very excited to announce that a new intern will take on the responsibilities of this blog and continue to provide the Eating with the Ecosystem Community the same exciting content. Make sure you stick around for that!

I wanted to thank everyone for keeping up with this blog so far! It has been a great experience that has helped me grow professionally, academically, and personally. I also wanted to thank Kate Masury, our Executive Director, for providing me with this amazing internship opportunity and the mentorship! It has been so great working with a Holy Cross alumnae at such a passionate organization. 

Be sure to keep up with the blog posts, as new and exciting content is in the works! Thank you for everything.

-Seryna Warren

Seas the Day: Fun Ways to Include Local Seafood this Summer!

As the summer quickly approaches and you have learned about all these great ways to incorporate local seafood into your life at school, the question remains, what do you do when you go home for the summer? Obviously, you can incorporate the tricks you've learned so far through this blog into your lifestyle at home, but you can also start doing new things away from campus! The goal of this post is to introduce you to some fun new activities that you can do over the summer to increase the locality of your seafood consumption.

One way to include local seafood into your diet this summer is by catching it yourself! What is more local than that? If you enjoy fishing, you can fish from shore or go out on a boat with your friends or family. This will allow you to catch different species that you know are definitely local and be able to try them. This is a fun activity that you can do with your friends or family, or it can be something to do on your own for some quiet time. Whatever the case may be, if you are going to fish, please make sure that you are abiding by the state/municipal rules for the area you are in. These rules can be found easily through state websites, and include any fishing license information and catch limits to specific species. For example, these are the marine fishing regulations for the state of Rhode Island: http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/marine-fisheries/rimftoc.php.

If fishing isn't your style, but you still want to try catching your own seafood, try clamming! Clamming is a fun way to eat locally while staying close to shore. Clamming is also an activity that does not require multiple pieces of equipment. All you really need is a clam rake or shovel to dig up your clams, and a bucket to store them! I think that this is a great way to incorporate local seafood while on summer break, especially if you find yourself at the beach often. Similar to fishing, however, if you are going to go clamming, please make sure you are following your state/municipality regulations. The Rhode Island clamming regulations can be found here: http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/water/shellfish/shellfish-closure-maps.php 

Although these activities are really engaging ways to incorporate local seafood into your life away from campus this summer, you may not have access to the ocean to go either fishing or clamming. If this is the case, one fun way to change up your diet of local species is to cook them over a fire! Fires are always a staple during the summer time, and they are such a great way to cook marshmallows, hot dogs, and especially seafood. Just head to your local fish market or grocery store, select your favorite local species, grab some tinfoil and some fresh veggies, and that's it. Wrap up the fish in some tinfoil along with the fresh veggies and some olive oil, and roast it over the open flame. The rule of thumb is to cook your fish for ten minutes for every inch of thickness. A well oiled grill helps prevent the fish from sticking. This method can also be done using a grill if open flames are not feasible. Grilling is also a great way to cook seafood in the summer when you don’t want to heat up your kitchen. Stuff a whole fish with some lemon and herbs and throw it on the grill or roast some oysters on the grill then add some herb butter and enjoy! These methods are super simple and quick, but makes for a great meal to share around the fire on those warm summer nights.

A seafood boil or lobster/crab/clam bake is another fun option to incorporate more local seafood and outdoor cooking into your diets this summer. Check out this simple guide for a New England style clam bake for some inspiration.

And lastly, when you don’t feel like cooking or using heat at all, try making crab or lobster roll at home or enjoy a delicious poke bowl using some local fish! 

Although you have learned so many great ways to include local seafood into your diet on campus, these are some ways you can bring it home to your friends and family over summer break. Challenge yourself and your friends and family this summer to get involved! It will lead to fun days, great memories, and even better food!

Calamari: Just Air Fry It!

In 2022, we are in the era of kitchen gadgets. There is a new appliance or tool to help with anything and everything in your kitchen, even frying! Air frying is a new trend that really gained momentum before the COVID-19 pandemic, and since then it is still a popular choice for cooking food. 

As a college student, I prioritize speed and health (kind of) when it comes to cooking. With exams, extracurriculars, and all other responsibilities it can be difficult to spend a lot of time cooking a meal that is healthy. Because of  that, I find that an air fryer is a must in my college apartment kitchen. 

My take on an air fryer is that it is a happy medium between a conventional oven and a microwave. It has the speed of a microwave but gives you the crispness of a conventional oven or fryer without the unhealthy effects of deep frying.

One recipe I decided to try in my air fryer is fried calamari. I had some squid in my freezer that I wanted to use, and I thought that making air fried calamari would be a quick and easy option. All I needed was panko bread crumbs, an egg, flour, and the squid.

To start I had to defrost the squid. This is honestly the most time consuming part of the whole recipe, so my best advice would be to do it sooner rather than later. I defrosted mine by putting it in my refrigerator the morning of the day I wanted to cook it, so that it would be ready by dinner time. At dinner time, it was still a bit frozen, but I just ran it under some cold water and then it was good to go! (If you forget to put it in your fridge with enough time to thaw, you could defrost it in cold water in the sink as a quicker alternative.)

I then got to work setting out my ingredients. Now, usually, I would look up a recipe and follow it measurement by measurement, but because I am in college and this week was crazy busy with assignments, I decided to eyeball everything. I figured whatever I did not have enough of, I could just add more. 

In one bowl, I poured some pre-seasoned bread crumbs. In another bowl, some flour. And in the last bowl, one egg whisked. Then onto the squid.

I had one pound of squid, and all of the pieces were the cleaned squid tubes. To get the perfect rings served at fancy seafood restaurants, the technique is actually really easy. Prior to making this recipe, I had zero idea of how calamari came to be in the form of rings. I then learned that all you have to do is cut the tubes like you would slice a cucumber. It is so simple. This part did take me a little more time than I anticipated, but to save time, you could get pre-cut squid. 

I then went to work. I started by dipping each ring into the flour, making sure it was fully coated, and then into the egg. From the egg, it went into the panko crumbs that would give it the nice crunch once it was cooked. This process was repeated until all the rings were covered, and then they went into the basket of the air fryer. 

The rings are not supposed to touch in the air fryer, so I had to do this in a few batches. This was okay though because each batch took only about five minutes. I placed the rings of calamari into the basket, gave them a quick spray with cooking oil, and put them in the air fryer for about four minutes on one side, and then I flipped them to the other side for another three minutes. I sprayed the other side with cooking oil after I flipped them.

I repeated this until all of the pieces were fully cooked, crispy, and ready to eat! To go along with the calamari, I warmed up some leftover marinara sauce from my fridge and veolia!

This meal was a hit among my roommates! It was easily shared, and everyone thought it was so delicious!  The texture of the outside was crispy from the bread crumbs while the inside was firm. The flavor profile was mild and slightly sweet, which paired nicely with the sweetness from the marinara sauce that we dipped the rings into. Although this was my first attempt at this recipe, I think it compares well to calamari that I have had in restaurants. It had the same texture, as well as presentation. In the future, I would lessen the amount of flour and egg wash I do, as I feel as though it created a very thick layer around the squid, which hid the flavor slightly. 

Photo credit: Kate Masury

Photo Credit: Julielynn Belon

Overall, this recipe was super quick, easy, and college friendly! An air fryer is definitely a staple you need to have in your college apartment, or even in your dorm (if your school allows it). It creates so many culinary opportunities, and so many ways that you can include seafood in your college diet. In this case, calamari is a great example of how you can easily incorporate local seafood into your daily college life. As I have explained, it is very simple to make with just a few ingredients and short cooking time, but it is also very affordable. The price of squid can range depending on where it is bought and the season, but overall, it is very affordable and can be found at most grocery stores in the fresh seafood section or the freezer section. This simplicity is not only limited to calamari. One could use an air fryer to make some fish in chips with some local skate, or even some haddock for a rice bowl recipe (you can find this experience in an earlier post!). The air fryer is so versatile and opens up so many doors to exploring ways to incorporate seafood into your college life, but still being quick, easy, and dorm friendly!

Date Night!

Cooking alone can be fun, but I find that I have more fun when I am cooking with someone else. As Valentine's Day recently passed, my significant other and I decided to have a date night where we would cook together and enjoy the local seafood we made with some wine.

My boyfriend and I always love to try new things, whether it be a hobby or food. Today, we got to do both! We have never really cooked together before, but we both enjoy cooking, so we thought we would give it a shot! For our date night, my boyfriend and I decided we wanted to make something simple, as we both are not very savvy when it comes to cooking. After discussing some ideas with Kate and perusing the Eating with the Ecosystem website, we decided to make skate wing piccata. Skate wing piccata is very simple to make and does not require many ingredients. In fact, we had most of the ingredients at home! 

After determining what we needed from the grocery store, we set off and picked up some capers and a bottle of sauvignon blanc that we thought would pair nicely with the dish. When we got home, we set up our ingredients. What we needed for this recipe was skate, oil, lemon juice, flour, butter, capers, and salt and pepper. That's it!

To begin, we worked together to follow the recipe and measure out all the ingredients so that it would be less stressful once we actually started cooking. Doing this part together was really nice, because it lessened the time it would take to do it individually, and we got to chat about how hungry and excited we were to eat! 

Cooking the Skate

To make the skate, we actually had to cut it into pieces in order to have it fit in the pan we had. This also made it easier to cook, as it was a lot thinner! In order to ensure that the fish was crispy and well seasoned, we coated the raw pieces in flour and salt and pepper. This part made a bit of a mess (that my partner ended up cleaning later). We heated up some oil in a pan, and then we pan seared the skate wing. It didn't take any time at all, just about four minutes on each side. 

Once that was cooked, we put the fish aside and we wiped the pan of residual oil so we could use the pan for the next step. That's the best part about making this recipe; it only takes one pan! This is awesome for me because I am a college student with minimal space and kitchen utensils. 

The Sauce

While I was about to start getting the sauce going, I had my partner start boiling some pasta. (The recipe didn’t call for pasta but we thought it would be a nice addition to the dish and make it more filling.) I sometimes find when I am cooking alone, I start the pasta way too late because I forget about it, but having him in charge of the pasta ensured that everything was ready at the same time. I added the butter, lemon juice and capers to the pan and let them cook down until it formed a golden colored sauce. By this time the pasta was ready, and we were ready to plate!

I spun the pasta around each plate with the tongs to give it a more professional look, which kind of worked! Carefully, I placed the skate wing pieces on top of each mountain of pasta, to prevent them from falling apart. Then, the best part; the sauce! I delicately poured the sauce over the fish and the pasta. It was so carefully poured, that I felt as though I was filming a commercial for it! It looked so tasty!

Plating 

To finish it off and set the scene for a date night, I set the table with our silverware and napkins (yes…they were just paper towels folded to look more fancy), and poured us each a glass of wine. For our dinner, the wine selection was Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc, which definitely paired nicely with fish. I chose this wine by using the information about wine and seafood pairings, which can be found in my previous post. 

We then dug in! While doing so, we chatted about our days and our plans for the weekend and how much fun we had cooking together! It was a perfect date night.

As for how the dish turned out, I think it turned out really well. It looked really beautiful and it tasted pretty good. Personally, I am not a huge fan of lemon or capers, so I think that the sauce was not my favorite, but the skate itself was really good! This was my first time trying a skate wing, and I thought the texture was very good, and it definitely had a sweeter taste than what I was used to with fish. I think the next time I make something with skate wings, I will probably try a different sauce, but overall it tasted good, but the experience was really fun!

As for my boyfriend, he loved this dish. He loved the sauce so much, and he really loved the skate wing. Prior to this, he has not had much experience with seafood, and he has never tried skate wing, so he was pleasantly surprised with how much he liked it. He even went as far as to mention that this was one of the best things I have ever made. I am really happy he liked it, and again, it was a lot of fun.

Finally, the wine paired beautifully. The wine was crisp and acidic, yet very light, and it complimented the lemony flavor of the sauce really well, and cut the tenderness of the fish. It was a great choice, and I definitely will pair this type of fish with sauvignon blanc again next time. 

Overall, this was a really fun experience, and I am glad my boyfriend and I decided to cook for our date night. This experience allowed us to stay in and catch up about our week and laugh and have fun, while also trying something new together. This experience was very pleasant, and I definitely would recommend this type of date night next time you and your partner are stumped on what to do. It definitely brought us closer and allowed us to discover a new hobby and food we both enjoy!

A Basic guide to Wine and seafood Pairings

Turning 21 is an important event in one's life. It feels like the beginnings of full adulthood! And it also means you are legally permitted to consume and enjoy an alcoholic beverage. Many of us are in college when we turn 21 and celebrate with friends. My 21st birthday, unfortunately, was amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, so I was not able to enjoy the occasion the way I had expected. 

Since turning 21, I have been dabbling in the area of wine, and have been especially interested in the ways in which wine can compliment different foods. Through my internship at Eating with the Ecosystem, I have been able to enhance my knowledge of a multitude of local seafood species, as well as learn about ways in which to prepare them in the kitchen. Now, I want to combine these two interests and will attempt to compile a basic guide to wine pairings and seafood to assist others who would also like to start experimenting.

As a student, seafood, as well as alcohol (wine in particular) can be expensive and daunting. In this post, I hope to create a guide to assist students, or anyone for that matter, to begin pairing local seafood with wine. Before beginning however, it is important to note that as stated before, I am twenty one years old and this article is solely meant for those who are also twenty one years and older. If you are in college but still want to learn more, feel free to utilize this guide once you are of age! 

Now, I am going to preface this blog with the fact that my knowledge regarding wine is very basic! However, I have accumulated some knowledge that will hopefully be helpful from my bartending experience, as well as about a year of being twenty one and trying different wines. I’m hoping my beginner’s knowledge will make this article accessible to anyone. I also have conducted some research for this article and talked to Kathleen Standridge, the Wine and Beverage Director at the Shipwright’s Daughter, a restaurant in Mystic, Connecticut that serves lots of local seafood. Kathleen’s husband David is the chef and they work together to run the restaurant.

For the purposes of this article, I have broken up wine into three categories: white, red, and sparkling. From there, I will provide some local seafood species that I feel would pair nicely. 

White Wines

First, let's start with the most obvious pairing: the white wines. White wines are typically very light and compliment seafood, as seafood is a lighter source of protein, in comparison to foods like red meat. They range in terms of flavor profiles and acidity, but overall, white wines typically tend to pair best with the marine food web. 

Another reason why white wine makes a great pairing with seafood is based on the saying: "what grows together goes together". Since white wines are typically grown in coastal areas, it is destined that it would pair well with seafood!

Chardonnay is a very well known type of white wine. It is usually considered the "one size fits all" wine when it comes to seafood, meaning it pairs well with most options. It is typically dryer wine and usually medium-to full bodied with moderate acidity. It usually pairs well with white flaky fish, raw bars, or even oilier varieties of seafood. With this in mind and after doing some research and chatting with wine expert Kathleen Standridge at the Shipwright's Daughter, a restaurant in Mystic, CT, some local species to try with chardonnay would be monkfish, lobster, or jonah crab. Other options include white fish, such as haddock, cod, pollock, hake, and redfish. The typically oaky flavor and mild to moderate acidity will pair well with any of these options and definitely would be worth a try!

If chardonnay isn't your go-to wine, another white wine to try with your seafood dishes is sauvignon blanc. Sauvignon blanc is a more acidic wine that is associated with a fresh, bright flavor profile. This type of wine tends to be described as bright and fresh, and with the high acidity, makes it perfect for a multitude of fish species. For example, with the high acidity, sauvignon blanc cuts fattier fish, so you may want to try options, like mackerel, butterfish, or bluefish. You may also want to try some white flakey fish such as black sea bass, whiting, summer flounder, scup, and grey sole, as the light flavor matches with the lightness of the fish. Finally, shellfish is another option to pair with this bright wine. Species you can try include lobster, quahogs, and mussels. Maybe try a mussel stew recipe!

Pinot grigio is also another amazing contender when it comes to wine and seafood pairings. Its floral and fruity flavor and mid-bodied profile make a great pairing for lighter fish such as any local flounder, John dory, whiting, scup, butterfish, black sea bass, or haddock. Similar to sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio also pairs exceedingly well with shellfish like lobster, crab species, mussels, or clams. 

Sparkling Wines

Although white wines are typically what goes best with seafood, it may not be your cup of tea (or glass of wine!). Another wine type that pairs well with seafood are sparkling wines. Sparkling wines are wines with carbonation and can be made with a variety of grape types and through different wine making methods. The few that I think are the most well known and accessible are champagne, prosecco, and sparkling rose. 

To begin, champagne is definitely a wine you can gravitate towards with seafood. Although it can be a bit pricier, the light, fresh, crisp profile makes champagne a great pairing for either a raw bar or with shellfish! There are different sweetness levels of champagne that allow you to really tailor this wine to the seafood you choose, as well as to your personal wine preferences. Even with a slightly higher price than other options, there are plenty of college budget friendly options to choose from as the opening to your next get together or friendly outing with your peers.

If champagne is not in your price range, or you would like to try another option, you could look to prosecco. It is personally my favorite of the sparkling wines! Prosecco is a great staple to have with seafood! This wine does not tend to have much body thus it is lighter and pairs well again with shellfish or raw bar! To incorporate this option, you can enjoy a glass while eating oysters on the half shell, snacking on some lobster horderves, or maybe some steamers (aka soft shell clams) dipped in butter.

Sparkling rosé is another great option for seafood, and is a little different to prosecco and champagne. This sparkling wine is typically light and fresh, but can also be fruity. With this, it can also have a higher acidity, making it perfect for oilier fish such as mackerel, bluefish, butterfish, or also with some shellfish! 

Overall, the sparkling wines all pair very well with many local seafood varieties and each differ in some ways. I suggest trying the different options to see what you prefer when it comes to this group.

Red Wines

Finally, we are onto the last category: the reds. Red wines can be very daunting, and are usually more difficult to pair with seafood. Remember what we said earlier: What grows together goes together. Red wine grapes are typically grown far away from the coast. They are heavier and do not often match the pallet that accompanies seafood very well. Although red wines are not typically paired with seafood, it doesn't mean you can't pair them yourself! Here, we will look at two red wine varieties that may work and demonstrate which seafood options are the best! The general rule of thumb, however, is whenever pairing red wines with seafood in any case, attempt to cook the seafood with heavier ingredients to deepen the dish so it will match the profile of the red wine better.

Firstly, we have merlots. Merlots tend to be fruity and fresh and on the lighter end when it comes to red wine, which is why it is the most likely red pairing when it comes to seafood.  Merlot tends to be dryer and medium bodied, but it can pair well with fattier fish, like bluefish or  tuna. Overall, this wine again is best paired with seafood that is prepared in a heavier way, such as in a stew.

Another red option that is easily accessible and not too pricey is pinot noir. Pinot noir is a moderately dry wine with moderate acidity. It pairs well with both lean fish and oily fish. Species to try include monkfish, halibut, scup, and mackerel. Although this is another option, the same rule applies as with Merlots and any other red wines: heavier wine equals heavier meal.

There ya go. That is a very basic guide to pairing wine with seafood. As you can see white wine is typically favored for seafood over any other types. It's light fresh profile matches well with the lightness of seafood and goes back to the idea of "what grows together goes together". Although these types of pairings are expected, it does not mean you can't have red or sparkling wines with your seafood selection! Dining experiences should reflect what you want to consume, so if you don't like white wine, drink red wine! There is no right or wrong way to pair seafood and wine, so in the end, drink what you want! At the end of the day, if you are going to enjoy it and it will heighten your experience with the local seafood, then enjoy it as you please! 

I decided to use this guide myself and pair some seafood with some wine! As a college student with a tight budget and full schedule, I needed something quick and simple. As per a suggestion, I was pointed in the direction of clams, as they are easy and do not take much time to cook. With clams in mind, I went to my local Shaw's and picked up about a pound of Littleneck clams, a size of hardshell clams or Quahogs (my favorite). I followed a quick NYTimes recipe for a white wine sauce pasta with clams. This recipe was insanely easy. All I really needed was clams, pasta, olive oil, garlic, some spices and white wine. While at the grocery store, I also wanted to pick up a bottle of wine to use in the recipe and to enjoy with my meal. I decided on a simple chardonnay, as it pairs nicely with all fish, including shellfish. Once home, I followed the recipe. First, I soaked the clams in cold water. While that was happening, I boiled some angel hair pasta on one burner, and on another, I started making the sauce. The sauce was so simple. Just oil, garlic, and some dried chili! Once heated, I added that wine and the clams and covered them until the clams opened! This took about ten minutes, and by then, the pasta was done!. I discarded the clams that didn't open and threw in the pasta. Once mixed, I plated it up, sprinkled on some parmesan cheese, and poured myself a glass of the wine. This dish was delicious. It was so light, but the clamd and the wine in the sauce really brought out each other's flavors. The oakiness of the chardonnay was a bit strong, making this dish taste stronger. If I were to do this again, I would try it with another type of white wine, such as sauvignon blanc, to see if the bright and crisp flavor profile would make a difference.  

Hopefully this guide, however, gave you some basic insight into the world of wine and seafood. If you wish to try any of the suggestions for your seafood dishes, Eating with the Ecosystem highly encourages you to try it with species local to you. It will be just as enjoyable and way more sustainable to local marine food webs! Have a wine in mind, but don't know where to start with recipes? Check out Eating with the Ecosystem's recipe page for some inspiration! 

https://www.eatingwiththeecosystem.org/recipes 

A big shout out and thank you to Kathleen Standridge, wine expert at the Shipwright's Daughter, for such an insightful conversation and great suggestion! If you ever are in the Mystic, Connecticut area, go visit Kathleen at the Shipwright's Daughter and try the amazing wines she pairs with the dishes on the menu!

Trendy & Local!

Over the past few weeks, I have been casually scrolling through Tik Tok, and have been bombarded with so many videos about new food trends. One new food trend that I had seen everywhere is called the Salmon Rice Bowl. I knew I had to try it!

This trend started earlier this fall and was first posted by a young California Bay Area lifestyle blogger Emily Mariko. Since then, she has continued to post this recipe, along with other videos of her cooking. She begins by taking some leftover salmon and flaking it apart and putting it on top of some leftover rice. She then microwaves it and drizzles kewpie mayo and sriracha on top and mixes it all together. The dish is served with nori and avocado to make a sushi roll-esque creation. 

Sourced from: The Today Show

Emily Mariko and her salmon rice bowl

As Emily Mariko is from the Bay Area of California, salmon is a species that is considered local. She reiterates this by documenting her local farmers market hauls, which is where she purchases her salmon. This dish falls under Eating with the Ecosystem's place-based approach in Emily Mariko's case, but what if someone in New England wanted to try out the trend?

With this question in mind, I decided I wanted to give it a shot! I first needed to figure out what fish I wanted to use in place of Salmon since we don’t have local salmon here. After looking through Eating with the Ecosystem's 'what's local' page, I decided to use haddock. I knew that I liked it, and that it would have a great flaky consistency for this recipe. 

I then had to go and purchase the piece of fish I would use. For this, I went to a small local seafood market in the town I grew up near called West Boylston Seafood. My experience here was just lovely! I was able to speak to the owner, and he was able to give me a tour of the species they had and was so open to telling me about where everything came from. He also let me take some photos! Here are some that I shot that day:

When in the store, there were so many local options. After pursuing the cases, I decided upon a piece of oven-ready haddock that was adorned with bread crumbs and spices. The owner mentioned that a lot of the inventory they had had just came in that day from Boston, so I was thrilled to find something like that!

Oven-ready haddock.

At the market, there were so many options, but I think I gravitated more towards the oven-ready option, as I am a college student with minimal time and space to cook elaborately, so this was perfect for me!

After purchasing my haddock, the business also provided me with a sheet on how long to cook the fish for, along with the other species they had in stock, which was super helpful. I gave my thanks and proceeded to go home to try the dish!

Haddock in the air fryer.

Once I arrived at home, I immediately got to work! I started off by placing the haddock into the air fryer, as I knew that it would save me time, rather than using the oven. I placed the haddock in the basket, and cooked it at 400 degrees F for 18 minutes, checking on it periodically.

While the haddock was cooking, I wanted to get my rice ready. Again, as a college student, I do not have access to many appliances, such as a rice cooker, so I had decided to use some 'Boil-in-a-Bag' rice that I already had in my pantry. I followed the instructions on the packing, and let the rice cook for about 20 minutes. If you have a rice cooker at home, or actually know how to make rice properly (...unlike me), then feel free to do whatever method you like for this step! 

To kill some time while everything was cooking, I pulled out the condiments I planned to use to top off the bowl. Unfortunately, I was not able to find any kewpie mayo (a Japanese mayo) for this recipe, but I found that using regular mayo and some soy sauce works very well. I retrieved my mayo, sriracha, and soy sauce from the fridge, along with the toppings I planned to use. 

As a college student, I really wanted to work with what I already had, as I didn't want to waste any food, so instead of using avocado like Emily Mariko does in her original recipe, I decided to garnish the bowl with some sliced baby cucumbers. Again, this part is solely based on personal preference. Add whatever you like to your bowl!

Haddock, rice, mayo, siracha, and seasoning; premixed.

After about 18 minutes, both the rice and the haddock were finished cooking. I pulled out the haddock and placed it on a cutting board to flake apart with a fork. I then pulled the rice bag out of the water, drained it, and poured it into a bowl to be fluffed up with a form. 

Now that all the hard work was finished, it was time for the fun part: the assembling of the bowl! I first layered my fluffed up rice on the bottom of the bowl. I then took the haddock that I had previously flaked and poured it right on top of the rice. I popped open all the condiments and just went to town with them! The more the better! I drizzled them on also sprinkled on some 'Everything but the Bagel' seasoning, because that always makes everything better! To be artsy, I lined the sliced cucumbers around the edge of the bowl, grabbed my chopsticks and seaweed wrappers and Voila! 

Finished haddock and rice bowl!

I could not wait to dig in! I took a nori wrapper and took some of everything to make the perfect bite! This recipe was so good, and honestly, as someone who has tried the original recipe, I think I liked this one better (shhhhh...)! The haddock had a much better flavor and the texture was on par for this recipe. 

Although trends are fun and they are always great to try, sometimes putting a spin on them can be just as satisfying! By incorporating a place-based approach to the seafood component of the recipe, I was able to create a delicious meal, while promoting a sustainable practice to seafood consumption! Easy recipe, great food, and it's local?! That's a win in my book!

Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 oz filet of Haddock (or any local species that flakes when cooked!)

• 1 serving of rice 

  • Cooking method personal preference

• Sriracha

• Mayonnaise

• Soy Sauce

• Everything but the Bagel seasoning

• 1 Packet of nori (seaweed) wrappers

Steps

1. Air fry haddock at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes

2. Boil rice according to instructions on the package

3. Thinly slice cucumbers / avocado / other topping preferences

4. Fluff up rice and place into a bowl

5. Once haddock is finished, flake using a fork

6. Place haddock over the rice and combine

7. Drizzle mayo, sriracha, and soy sauce on top and combine

8. Sprinkle 'Everything but the Bagel' seasoning on top

9. Garnish with sliced veggies

10. Eat using nori wrappers

7th Annual Community Dinner!

The Community Dinner

On Saturday October 16th, at the Elks Lodge in Wakefield, Rhode Island, Eating with the Ecosystem held their 7th annual Community Seafood Dinner. After a year full of uncertainties, the event was able to finally happen and I was excited to attend!

As an a new intern with Eating with the Ecosystem, I had heard about the event a few weeks before, but had no idea what to expect. I had been asked to come and help out, potentially to take some photos or assist in any other areas that was needed, but no matter what I would be doing, I was excited to be able to attend an in person event; something of which I had not been able to do for over a year.

My nerves and excitement were noticeable in the days leading up to the event, because as a newcomer, I did not know what to expect. What would I be doing? What kind of event was this? Fancy? Casual? Serious? What kind of food will be served? Will I like all the new seafood varieties? All of these thoughts raced through my mind as the event approached, but nonetheless, I was ready to experience the famous event.

On October 16th, after about an hour and a half drive from Worcester, Massachusetts, I arrived at the Elks Lodge in Wakefield. As I went in, I was welcomed with such a great sense of community from the people I was introduced to right then, and in the hours to come. First I was greeted by the Program Director Kate Masury, who is my supervisor for my internship here at Eating with the Ecosystem. From there, I was handed a cool t-shirt to wear during the event (which was wicked comfy!).

For a majority of the event, I was asked to run the t-shirt and information table. Here, I was able to hand out information, answer any questions, and fulfill t-shirt and cookbook sales for community members at the event.

I really enjoyed doing this for the event, because I got to help out the organization, while meeting so many new faces and hearing all the wonderful things they had to say about the event.

Now on to the meat of the event (or should I say fish!)… the food! This by far had to be my favorite part! The structure of this event was sort of buffet style. The first elements to the first course was set up, and community members gathered in a line to obtain their portions.

The first course included monkfish chowder. Monkfish is a white meaty fish that reminded me a lot of the texture and taste of lobster. Prior to the dinner, I had never heard of monkfish, let alone tried it. I was pleasantly surprised and I really enjoyed this dish. During this course, we also had some mussels, which are always very tasty, as well as some smoked sea robin. Sea robin is a fish similar in taste to fluke or flounder, it’s sweet and mild in flavor but has a firm texture. This species is not prominent in the seafood market. I am happy to have been able to try it and I now know that I like it and can make it at home. Again, this was a fish I had never heard of, nor tried before. It was also a whole fish on the bone, which I was nervous about, as I had never had anything like that before. Again, I was pleasantly surprised! It was a bit daunting at first but definitely worth the try, and now I know how to eat it! Pro tip: you can use your fork to flake the meat away from the spine and then once you eat half, you can pull the full spine right out by the tail.

The second course was also very delicious. During this course, I was able to try species such as butterfish, scup, bluefish, and crab rice! My favorite was definitely the butterfish over the scup, but overall I enjoyed everything. Butterfish is a very buttery fish that is very quick and easy to eat, as there are minimal bones. Scup is a flakey white fish that has a more sweet flavor and this one was cooked in a foil packet on the grill with some delicious vegetables. The rice with the Jonah crab was the perfect side dish to accompany the other species on the plate. It was filling, but light and had a great flavor full of local crab! It was all so delicious and I was tempted to go up and get seconds!

We finished the meal off with some light desserts and an amazing raffle! There were some awesome prizes, including local art, gift cards to local restaurants, luxury kitchen knives, and more! With so many prizes, full bellies, and smiling faces, I think it is safe to say that everyone at the Community Dinner was a winner!

At the end of the event, while running the t-shirt and information table, we had finished the night with amazing t-shirt sales and happy community members! It was so great to see so many people incredibly passionate about Eating with the Ecosystem’s mission and happy to be back after a crazy year.

Overall, I think that this event stands out from any organization event I have ever been to. By attending this event, it is a great opportunity to support an amazing organization, while also being able to educate yourself on local species and sustainability, while also getting to try some amazing food. Eating with the Ecosystem is such a great organization with such an important mission, and I was so happy to be able to be a part of it this year!

If you missed the event this year, or would like to recreate the recipes you had, check out our website. Here we have those recipes, along with so many others to chose from!

Make sure to attend the Community Dinner next year!

To see more photos from the event and to learn more about Eating with the Ecosystem, check out our Instagram page!

@Eating_with_the_Ecosystem

A Guide to Begin Your Journey with Local Seafood

A guide on where to start looking to buy local seafood in the Worcester, MA. area.

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While in college, it can be very difficult to eat locally and sustainably on a student's budget. As a student myself, I have struggled finding local options both on and off campus. 

Currently I am a senior at the College of the Holy Cross majoring in environmental studies. The College of Holy Cross is located on Mt. Saint James, right in the heart of New England's second largest city; Worcester. As an environmental studies major, sustainability is a priority of mine, but as a college student living in essentially a food desert while on campus, it can be difficult to eat sustainably. So, I did some digging (or should I say fishing)!

I sought out to find three different options for buying locally sourced fish in the Worcester area that hopefully will cater to any lifestyle, on or off campus. From my research and traveling around Worcester to find the best options, I have compiled an online source, a small seafood business, and a large supermarket chain that all have some locally sourced seafood. Hopefully other college students around Worcester can use this as a guide on where and how to buy local seafood in the area.

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Shopping Online

Shopping online for seafood has an abundance of benefits, especially for a college student. The first is that it is an easily accessed method of purchasing local and fresh seafood. For some students, transportation to and from a grocery store or fish market can be difficult. By using an online fish market to buy seafood, it takes out the transportation aspect and delivers it right to the student's door (...or campus mailbox?).

There are over 100 different species caught in the New England waters and shopping online is one way to gain access to this diversity of species! 

While searching the internet for some online options, one of the first places I came across was Fulton's Fish Market. This website had an abundance of fresh seafood options, including species that are sourced from the New England region, making it convenient for any college student in central Massachusetts who wants to eat locally. 

As the internet is the one place that someone can buy anything they can think of, this makes online fish markets ideal for purchasing local seafood. One can take this type of option anywhere you go! Live in one state but go to another for school? You can change up what you buy based on what is local to your new environment! It is very easy to obtain local seafood via a search engine as a college student.

As an online option, Fulton's Fish Market doesn't only have seafood, but also has products to accompany it, making it easier to cook. On their website, they sell kitchen tools, spices, garnishes, and even side dishes that would go well with seafood. This option completely eliminates the need for any grocery store run when making seafood!

Another online option that I found when searching for seafood online is Red’s Best, a Massachusetts based company. Red’s Best’s mission focuses on being able to track the seafood from the ocean to your dinner plate, while prioritizing the community ties to the individual fisherman. Like, Fulton Fish Market, Red’s Best has an abundance of options for fresh, frozen, and local seafood that can be delivered right to your door, but buys directly from fisherman, putting emphasis on the importance of the fisherman-consumer relationship and community values. I really enjoyed the navigability of Red’s Best website. It seems very easy to use and convenient for someone in college to use begin their journey to eating local seafood.

Similarly, another fisherman-first company that sells seafood for purchase online is True Fin Seafood. True Fin is primarily focused in the Gulf of Maine, making it very suitable for those who want to eat locally while based in New England. Like Red’s Best, True Fin works towards fresh and local seafood, while prioritizing seafood straight from the fisherman. Like other online platforms, True Fin and Red’s Best have an abundance of options to chose from, that can be delivered right to your door. I truly enjoyed navigating through these two companies’ websites, and really appreciated their emphasis on buying directly from fishermen, as it truly improves the relationship between fishermen and the community of consumers.

There can also be some drawbacks by purchasing seafood online. One would be the packaging required for transportation and shipping. Shipping seafood to your home requires more packaging to ensure that the seafood is preserved and remains fresh which can mean more plastic or other non-reusable materials.

Another con to this method of obtaining locally sourced seafood online is that it can be overwhelming. Sometimes, not having the fish right in front of you to look at the size or amount can be very difficult to put into perspective, which can make it more daunting to buy it online.

Overall, utilizing an online seafood market can be very beneficial to someone just getting started with seafood. It is a great way to find locally sourced seafood, and very convenient if traveling to and from the grocery store is difficult as a college student. 

“For nearly 200 years this bounty was only available to the world's best restaurants and the brave few willing to shop the market at 3am. Now our customers nationwide can access the world's best seafood - hand-selected by the most trusted experts in the business - all from the comfort of their own home” -Fulton Fish Market

Check these out!

Fulton Fish Market

https://fultonfishmarket.com/

Red's Best! 

https://www.redsbest.com/ 

True Fin Seafood

https://truefinseafood.com/ 

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Large Chain Grocer: Shaw’s Market (Shrewsbury, MA)

Shaw’s Market Seafood Counter

50 Boston Turnpike. Shrewsbury, MA. 01545

Another option to buying local seafood is through chain grocery stores near you. For the purposes of this article, I looked at one close to my campus of Holy Cross, which happened to be Shaw's supermarket. Here there are lots of options at the seafood counter, as well as easy access to items to accompany the seafood, such as spices and side dishes. 

Buying seafood at a grocery store may require some communication and socialization. Sometimes the labels are not very descriptive on where the fish is sourced from, or sometimes they may not have everything that you are looking for on display. That's okay, because all you have to do is ask! The people working behind the counter are there to help you get what you are looking for. 

For the purpose of this post, I went to Shaw's to experience buying seafood so I could document my experience. 

Just from walking into the store, I knew that it was going to be very easy to purchase other things to go along with the seafood, but maybe not the seafood itself.

I headed towards the extravagant sign labeled "SEAFOOD" to start this process. I took one glance at the seafood, and was a bit overwhelmed. There was shrimp, and clams; salmon and crab legs, all the way over to the live lobster tank with dozens of lobsters crawling on top of each other. 

With my list in hand of the species I was looking for, I was ready to get started. There was only one issue; nothing was labeled with where it was sourced from. There were signs to let the customer know the species and the price, but nothing about where it came from, or whether or not it was locally caught. 

I decided my next move would be to ask the person behind the counter. I stepped up when it was my turn in line, and I noticed they had Atlantic cod, which could be a local species, and asked him where it was from. He proceeded to tell me that it was the North Atlantic region, which he mentioned could be around here, or all the way up to Iceland. 

Cod is a very popular choice among New England supermarkets due to its flaky white texture. There are, however other species local to the area that are similar and also very tasty such as haddock, pollock, or hake.

The conversation overall, was not very helpful. The worker did not seem very invested, or knowledgeable about the location at which the fish was sourced from. Although this may not be the same at every large chain you go to, this may be a frequent issue you face. Because of this, as a college student who wants to start buying local seafood, the grocery store can be overwhelming and challenging during your journey, so it may not be the ideal place to begin.

As for price, however, the grocery store was affordable. In comparison to the online markets, Shaws definitely had less variety and could be very ambiguous with its labeling, but was less expensive in comparison. If price is something that is the top priority when shopping for seafood, the chain grocery stores may be the way to go, but they may not always be the best option when attempting to obtain local seafood easily. 

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Small Business: A.P Seafood Co. Worcester, MA.

My last stop was a local seafood market right here in Worcester. My experience here was interesting to say the least. 

First, the fish market is in a very convenient area of Worcester. The area is very drivable, and there is an abundance of parking.

I then went in to be welcomed by cases and cases of fish. There were live lobsters, little neck clams, shrimp, cod, and more! There were also various signs about the locality of most of their seafood that they offered. The people behind the counter were very friendly and very fast paced but were still willing to help out a beginner in the world of seafood, like myself. 

I had asked the man behind the counter if he could point me in the direction of the most local seafood he had. He mentioned that everything in the case was pretty much local and from the coast of Maine through Rhode Island, which was exciting to hear! He did however mention that the Atlantic Cod would probably be the closest catch he had. Sold! I then bought a filet to cook up later for dinner (stay tuned for a post about that!). 

Overall, my experience here was pretty simple. I was able to sustainably purchase locally sourced seafood at a reasonable price, while also supporting a small business. It checked all my boxes!

I unfortunately was not able to take my own photos while in the seafood market, but here’s a photo from the market's website!

Inside A.P Seafood Market sourced from Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Again, as a college student, one challenge of shopping at a local seafood market is transportation. I am fortunate enough to have my car with me, and have had it on campus for all four years of undergrad. I have been able to go anywhere whenever I wanted to. This unfortunately is not the case for a lot of college students. 

Transportation can be a big halt in the road for students to be able to purchase local seafood. Although the prices at the small local seafood market were the best, it may not always be the easiest option. 

Check out A. P Seafood at 1059 Grafton St. Worcester, MA. 01604

For another small seafood market in the Worcester area, check out West Boylston Seafood located at 321 W. Boylston St. West Boylston, MA. 01583

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I think the big takeaway from my shopping experience is that shopping for local seafood is an individual experience and is based on what best fits the needs of your lifestyle. For me, I found the best option to be the small seafood market, as it checked all of my boxes. It had reasonable prices, was easily accessible, and was a small business. 

Although these may be my boxes to check, they may not be yours. As a college student, you have to establish your priorities when you shop, especially for seafood. If the monetary aspect is the top priority, maybe finding the most inexpensive option is key. If transportation is a worry when shopping for seafood, then maybe purchasing online and having it delivered would be best. It is very much an individual decision and should be based on your priorities.

Overall, being a beginner when it comes to buying local seafood can be tricky. I found through my experience that purchasing small scale was the best fit for me, but honestly, whatever the method of purchasing the seafood is (small business, grocery chain, or online), as long as it is local, it is a great start to sustainable, place-based eating!

Check out ETWE’s species list that is local to the New England region to help you get started!