My fish has issues; it’s complicated – Sustainable Seafood in a Multimedia World

By Amy Grondin

Join Slow Food Seattle for My fish has issues; it’s complicated – Sustainable Seafood in a Multimedia World, a conversation with Chefs Barton Seaver and Becky Selengut at the Broadway Performance Hall on Monday October 17th from 6:30pm to 8pm. A cookbook signing and reception featuring Snoqualmie Vineyards, The Pike Brewing Company, and an oyster bar from Taylor Shellfish will follow from 8pm to 8:45pm. Tickets available now through Brown Paper Tickets, $12/pp.

It’s time to cut through the fog of confusion that surrounds choosing and eating seafood. Sustainable seafood can be enjoyed in such a way that our personal health and the health of the oceans are of equal consideration. There are lots of sustainable seafood options to be had but how do we identify them?

Becky Selengut and Barton Seaver

East coast meets West coast for this fun and informative sustainable seafood presentation with Becky Selengut, our own local fish whisperer, and Barton Seaver, who’s visiting from D.C. While cooking is a hands on activity that engages all your senses, these two chefs have also engaged their minds and ethics in the process without finger pointing at those of us who are still learning about sustainable seafood. We can benefit from their research and hours in the kitchen by reading the sustainable seafood cookbooks each chef released in Spring of 2011

The evening’s conversation will appeal to folks who receive their information in many different ways, from slow as the printed word to speedy as devices can deliver. As part of the presentation our chefs, led by edibleSEATTLE editor Jill Lightner, will talk about how technology allows them to engage with eaters who may be new to seafood and not necessarily cookbook readers who specifically sought out a sustainable seafood book. Love your smartphone? Smart and sassy blog and Facebook posts, Tweets, websites and YouTube videos by Becky and Barton are just a click away.

Or perhaps you would rather meander printed pages that are glossy with images of seafood briny and sweet from the ocean? A person can pick up either chefs’ cookbook and get the full story – recipes with a dash of science sprinkled in as seasoning. Pick up your copy of For Cod & Country, Barton’s cookbook or Good Fish, Becky’s cookbook after the presentation.

  

What might you learn from our chefs? Both Becky and Barton encourage us to eat a variety of fish besides the perennial favorites of shrimp, salmon and tuna.

Eating a variety of seafood protects the health of humans and fish populations. Creating a marketplace demand for many types of fish eases the pressure on the whole ocean food web by spreading harvest efforts over many species and not over fishing a one popular fish.

An example? Small silver fish – once popular, then over fished due to market demand but on the rise again – just might make it back to everyone’s dinner plate as Barton and Becky’s followers learn from reading a computer screen or a cookbook page about recipes that balance the fishes intense flavor so the rich, nutritional qualities of these environmentally friendly fish are enjoyed.

And in or out of a tin, we need to get over our national suspicion of small silver fish; they are delicious, not scary! Join us on Monday October 17th and we’ll talk about it.

Speakers:

• Barton Seaver, chef, National Geographic Fellow and author of For Cod & Country
• Becky Selengut, chef, instructor and author of Good Fish
• Jill Lightner, Editor of edibleSEATTLE

Thanks to our event sponsor, Seafood Producers Cooperative for their generous support and also to our presenting partners: Readers to Eaters, Snoqualmie Vineyards, Pike Brewing Company, Taylor Shellfish, and edibleSeattle.

  

     

Volunteers still needed – this Saturday, May 28th, 10am-2pm!

Join us for an afternoon of habitat restoration at Full Circle Farm led by Stewardship Partners on Saturday, May 28th on the banks of Griffin Creek and the Snoqualmie River. Do your part to save wild salmon by restoring a stretch of water essential to salmon spawning success. It is your choice whether wield a shovel or a camera. All levels of activity and support are welcome. Co-Sponsors for the work party are: Edible Seattle, Full Circle Farm, and Stewardship Partners.

Contact Alex Ko from Stewardship Partners today to RSVP at 206.292.9875.

 

The trail building is from 10am-2pm at Full Circle Farm in Carnation. Please try to arrive promptly at ten or slightly before, as the trail is about 2/3 of a mile from the parking lot, and we have a tractor taking volunteers out on the dot. Feel free to bring friends and family! There will be pastries and donuts, generously donated by Grateful Bread bakery of Seattle, and coffee provided by Starbucks.

A few things to remember:

• It is the Pacific NW so dress in layers, bring raingear, gloves and wear sturdy shoes or boots
• Bring your own snacks and water
• You will be outside and ‘facilities’ may be limited
• Come ready to work but be mindful of your own limitations. Please don’t overdo it.

Driving directions from Seattle:

• Take 1-90E
• Take exit 22 towards Preston/Fall City
• Turn left at SE 82nd St
• Turn right at SE High Point Way/Preston Fall City Rd SE
• Continue to follow Preston Fall City Rd SE
• Turn Right at WA-202 E/SE Redmond Fall City Rd/River St
• At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto WA-203 N/Fall City Carnation Rd SE
• Turn left at NE 8th St
• Drive to small white house and park in lot

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To read more about wild salmon habitat, check out the story in the May/June edition of Edible Seattle.

Nominee for Slow Food USA’s Ark of Taste: The Sugar Hubbard Squash

Slow Food’s Ark of Taste aims to rediscover, describe and publicize forgotten flavors around the world. Through the Ark of Taste program, Slow Food USA has a catalog of over 200 delicious foods in danger of extinction. Since 1996, more than 800 products from over 50 countries have been added to the international Ark of Taste. By promoting and eating Ark products we help ensure that they remain in production and on our plates.

The mission of the Slow Food Ark of Taste is to preserve traditional tastes and to celebrate them, by introducing them to the Slow Food membership and then to the world. All of the foods on the Ark of Taste are heritage products that have real economic viability and commercial potential for the communities that grow, produce or harvest them.

Since it’s inception, Slow Food Seattle has successfully boarded four regional food products onto the Slow Food Ark of Taste including Olympia Oyster, Marbled Chinook Salmon, Geoduck, and Makah Ozette Potato (our only Presidium product). Slow Food Seattle’s latest Ark of Taste nomination is the Sugar Hubbard, a sweet heirloom winter squash with a unique Puget Sound heritage. Former Slow Food Seattle Co-Chair, and Puget Sound Food Network Project Manager, Lucy Norris, recently wrote about this important heirloom in the winter 2010 issue of Edible Seattle.

Read the full story in Edible Seattle, or download a PDF version.

The Sugar Hubbard Squash, grown at Sherman's Pioneer Farm Produce in central Whidbey Island, is Slow Food Seattle's latest nomination for the Ark of Taste.

Sherman’s Pioneer Farm Produce in central Whidbey Island grows the only commercial crop of Sugar Hubbard in the country. It is the result of combining traditional blue Hubbard and Sweetmeat squash, inheriting the best flavor and texture characteristics of both. The Sugar Hubbard is a nutrient dense, starchy squash (with a high glycemic index), but also very high in vitamin A, exceeding USDA requirements for Beta Carotene. Most winter squash varieties are interchangeable in recipes, and the Sugar Hubbard is nutty-sweet and the colored deep orange like a marigold. Try it in a favorite recipe that calls for winter squash, and you’ll be impressed.

The Sugar Hubbard has an excellent flavor, and it’s uniquely local to Puget Sound, with a strong family heritage. It has every asset required for boarding onto Slow Food’s Ark of Taste. Slow Food Seattle’s interest in boarding this product on the Ark of Taste will send a signal to conscientious consumers and help boost market demand in our area. Voting with your fork helps food producers like the Sherman’s remain profitable in the business of farming in our region. Only the best tasting endangered foods make it onto the Ark, and we think the Sugar Hubbard is a great fit.

Find the Squash
Peeled squash cubes are available at all Whole Foods locations in Oregon and Washington as long as the supply holds out. Liz and Dale continue to look for additional retailers for their squash. Sherman’s Pioneer Farm Produce is located at 46 South Ebey Road, Coupeville, WA. Contact Liz or Dale Sherman at 360.678.4675.

Looking for recipes?
Spice Loaf – by Editor, Edible Seattle
Chili Stew – by Lucy Norris, adapted from an original recipe by Liz Sherman

Excerpts with permission from Edible Seattle.

Dale Sherman in his field of Sugar Hubbard squash. Photo: Lara Ferroni

Lucy Norris is Project Manager for Puget Sound Food Network, a project of the Northwest Agriculture Business Center, former co-chair of Slow Food Seattle, and author of Pickled: Preserving a World of Tastes and Traditions.