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the priya krishna/melissa clark thread


Diancecht

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3 hours ago, Orik said:

Don't get me started. 

Should I eat at Foxface (the horror -- from your pov) or not eat there (the sorrow -- from my pov) to get you started?

I've a res in the coming weeks and our happiness hangs on your answer.

Edited by relbbaddoof
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4 hours ago, small h said:

I don't get it. I buy from Pura Vida and American Pride and PE & DD. Does Clark actually not know about them? Because that would be journalistic malpractice.

Which restaurants buy from them?

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There are multiple points that all get sort of mushed together in that piece:

- Instead of fish from the dock going straight to restaurants or retail shops, it goes into the wholesale market system that is very very slow, designed to benefit the middlemen, not focused on quality, and doesn't care about limpets

- People want salmon and shrimp, not tautog, whelk, and porgy (and certainly not limpets!).  

- Restaurants want branzino because it's already two weeks old, so what's a few more days in the restaurant's fridge between friends? Also it comes every day, same size, same price, same farm-flavored fat that makes it hard to dry out

But she's not making some other points:

- Local fish varieties are limited, especially in winter (which, for fishing purposes, ends very late in Montauk) 

- Most of the local catch is from larger boats that can go out for almost two weeks at a time, and someone has to buy the fish that's been sitting in a huge pile on board for the duration of their trip, not just those from the last 36 hours. 

- Demand and supply fluctuate widely and restaurants and retail stores aren't designed to deal with having no fish or seafood for two weeks because of bad weather

- Ultimately what matters with fish is when (it was last alive) and how (it was caught, killed, bled, packed, chilled), and not so much where, as evidenced by the multiple four star restaurants serving fish flown first class from Tokyo and elsewhere. 

While it's unquestionably great to have local operations that focus on quality, time from water, educating fishermen and paying them better, and all that good stuff, the goal should be to overhaul the wholesale supply chain, otherwise it'll always remain as much of a niche as those greenmarket vendors. 

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5 hours ago, Orik said:

There are multiple points that all get sort of mushed together in that piece:

- Instead of fish from the dock going straight to restaurants or retail shops, it goes into the wholesale market system that is very very slow, designed to benefit the middlemen, not focused on quality, and doesn't care about limpets

- People want salmon and shrimp, not tautog, whelk, and porgy (and certainly not limpets!).  

- Restaurants want branzino because it's already two weeks old, so what's a few more days in the restaurant's fridge between friends? Also it comes every day, same size, same price, same farm-flavored fat that makes it hard to dry out

But she's not making some other points:

- Local fish varieties are limited, especially in winter (which, for fishing purposes, ends very late in Montauk) 

- Most of the local catch is from larger boats that can go out for almost two weeks at a time, and someone has to buy the fish that's been sitting in a huge pile on board for the duration of their trip, not just those from the last 36 hours. 

- Demand and supply fluctuate widely and restaurants and retail stores aren't designed to deal with having no fish or seafood for two weeks because of bad weather

- Ultimately what matters with fish is when (it was last alive) and how (it was caught, killed, bled, packed, chilled), and not so much where, as evidenced by the multiple four star restaurants serving fish flown first class from Tokyo and elsewhere. 

While it's unquestionably great to have local operations that focus on quality, time from water, educating fishermen and paying them better, and all that good stuff, the goal should be to overhaul the wholesale supply chain, otherwise it'll always remain as much of a niche as those greenmarket vendors. 

Does Baldor carry Limpets? 

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On 9/6/2024 at 4:24 AM, small h said:

I don’t know. Are you saying those vendors don’t sell to chefs, and that’s her point? I know of at least one restaurant that often serves local-ish fish. 

I have to admit I haven't looked at the GM fish vendors in a while, but I did so yesterday and today and I can't understand why they store fillets in a pile in a wet tub so they're both exposed to air and sitting in bacteria water. This is the second best way to accelerate spoilage after just leaving them out in the sun. 

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Either on a sheet pan cooled to 32F or if they must touch ice then flake ice with drainage (think of how fish is displayed at any fishmonger except the greenmarket, basically - diagonally sloped whether on ice or on sheet pans). Correct vacuum packing would be even better (I think the steelhead trout people do that) 

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1 hour ago, Orik said:

Either on a sheet pan cooled to 32F or if they must touch ice then flake ice with drainage (think of how fish is displayed at any fishmonger except the greenmarket, basically - diagonally sloped whether on ice or on sheet pans). Correct vacuum packing would be even better (I think the steelhead trout people do that) 

The fish monger at Essex Market does a pretty good job of this type of display...sheet pans, on ice, and covered.  Though I can't recall the last time I bought anything from him, I do look every time I'm at the market.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

🧐

Purti Pareek, a lawyer who lives on the Upper West Side, respects the forthrightness of these places. “Chefs should be able to do what they want, and they put so much effort into creating the restaurants and creating their own point of view,” she said. “But on the other hand, it makes me sad and annoyed as a vegetarian who wants to eat out at places like that and wants to experience every type of cuisine the world has to offer.”

vegetarians: caveat emptor

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