MAY 18, 2020

GOOD MONDAY EVERYONE!!

I have to say that last week was just amazing. Soft shells and tuna on the menu across Fairmount was just beautiful to see. In fact, Andy and I spoke about the fact that Thursday night felt really special. We both cooked up softies that night for our families and reflected on the knowledge that another 100 or so other homes in Fairmount were doing the same. So special. It felt like that kind of communal experience we feel from meals such as Passover, Easter dinner or Thanksgiving. Thank you for sharing the experience with us.

Tuna was a huuuuuuge hit as well!! I plan on doing that again when the good tuna cycles back around. It isn't every week but more like once a month. I would like to do it when it is at its peak. Beautiful preparations sent to us by many of you! There are several prominent chefs in the city that certainly noticed and called me to ask what was going on. I told them all that it was you, not a stock photo, but you. They were all totally impressed and rightly so.

So now I feel like so much pressure is on after doing lobster, halibut, tuna and soft shells. I'm afraid to disappoint many of you if the markets don't provide us with luxurious items. I just would like to say that we can still have fun with some lesser known fish that you may never have seen in a market but would be fun to cook with.

So, in that vain, we are bringing in yellowtail snapper this week! These beautiful caribbean fish are the smaller cousins of red snappers. Personally, this fish is one of my favorites. You see, I happened to have lived in Key West for six years in the 90's. I remember a lot of it. Hahaha. One thing, for sure, was the sweet delicate flavor of this fish. Along with grouper, those were the fish on most restaurant menus. One thing I grew to learn about and love was the passion that Caribbean cooks have for fish and snapper in particular. Such interesting ways to cook it mixing tropical fruit with spicy peppers and bright lemon or lime along with cilantro or parsley. The cuisine was so clean and refreshing.

One thing that we are grappling with is whether to fillet them or keep them whole. I think we will offer both as choices. The whole fish are around 1.75lbs each whole. We will scale them for you and gut them. Or, we will fillet them with the skin on. The order size will either be two whole fish per order or 2 lbs of fillet. People have been asking for whole fish so here it is. Here are two recipes below. One for fillet and one for whole fish. Just try not to salivate.

Fillet Recipe (for red snapper but do the same)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypzqLAvnstg

Whole Fish Recipe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dUQsiw8DTk

Also, people have been asking about squid or calamari. Let's do it. Squid, like shrimp, mostly comes frozen and cleaned. I carry high quality tubes with tentacles in 2.5lb trays that you can thaw out and use over a couple of days (if it lasts that long).

Oysters are changing once again to keep things interesting. We will be going with Irish Points from PEI. These are the neighbors of the more well known Pickle Points and absolutely delicious. Amazingly, many kids eating oysters in our neighborhood. Unbelievable!

Anyway, always nice communicating with everyone. Look out for the order form this Wednesday at 11am.

Thank you

Robert Amar
Small World Seafood
Owner