FEBRUARY 9, 2021

 HELLO EVERYBODY!!!

Wow, what a fun weekend for cooking!!! Halibut was off the hook!! What a pleasure to get some at this time of year. Plus, how lucky to get the dayboats instead of the trippers. Such beautiful fish. 

So fascinating to see people finding new ways to prepare Spanish mackerel. A ceviche by Daniel and a gravad by Michaela. Brilliant stuff. I love to see people gain confidence and risk in making a dish. It is certainly a little scary to venture into new culinary territory and risk epic failure in front of others. But the reward of succeeding is soooo rich with elements of satisfaction, heightened confidence and, let's be honest, bragging rights. That's the best. To top it off with a the lick of the index finger, the broad arm stroke way out and back toward one's rear end and, finally, the loud "Tsssssss" as the fingertip hits the ass. Hot shit, indeed.

This week will be a little mind blowing in its own way. You see, we were always planning ahead to do something lobstery for this week with Valentine's Day coming up. As things would have it, though, some funny things occurred in the market that we would take advantage of. First of all, we are able to do fresh cooked Canadian lobster meat (claw and knuckle meat as usual)! Yay!!  Live lobster, in general, has gone way up. You can find them sold in local supermarkets where they serve as a sort of loss leader for $12.99lb whole. At a 20% yield for the meat, that converts to $65 per pound if you were buying it that way. We made a good deal with our supplier and can sell it for $42lb. You can make 5 or 6 lobster rolls out of that so it would price out at around $9 per sandwich. Still cheaper than eating out by a lot. And a week shelf life in the fridge so some staying power.

As for tails, the Canadian tails have been in short supply causing the price to go way up. On the other hand, South African tails have been in high supply and its price has gone way down. South African tails have always been the top of line tails out there and the price reflected that. it would cost anywhere from 50%-90% more expensive than Canadian tails. You would see these tails in steak houses. casinos, luxury hotels and cruise ships. Well, guess who haven't been buying those tails? You got it. And guess what happened to the price? You got that too. You're so smart. So we jumped all over it to bring it to you. They are so pretty and more meaty than the Canadian tails so really a treat.

Lobster stock is also on the menu this week so now you really have the tools to make some sort of insane dinner this weekend.

Buuuuuuuuut, and this is where the mind blowing part comes in, there is another nice special little fish that we are going to feature this week because the timing is right. Remember how the storm last week gave us an opportunity with halibut? Well, this past week, lots of tuna boats started coming in and the Super Bowl happened with chicken wing mania getting all the attention. I prefer your mushroom puff pastry tarts and halibut tacos myself but that's me. So, all that tuna is putting downward price pressure on the good guys landing nice tuna this week. And so we are jumping all over that. Yup, sushi grade yellowfin tuna this week too. 

Now what do you do? Lobster, tuna, both? Ughh..This dilemma kind of reminds me of when my kids were young. So, I loooooove salads. I do. And I seem to annoyingly say it every time I eat one. So, one day my young kids were looking up at me as I was professing my love for a particularly good salad I had just made. I knew what they were thinking as they watched me rave over this bowl of veggies. They wanted to know what I loved more. So I told them this:

"Look, if I was standing on the edge of a cliff and a salad was dangling over here and you guys were dangling over there and I could only save one..." I paused in order for them to really visualize this and ponder my answer....

"I would save you guys....but I would be really upset.." Bwaaaahahahaha...Shoulda seen their faces. What? Now they have something to talk about with their therapists...

So what I am saying is that you could splurge and do both. You can do one or the other but you have to stand at the edge of the cliff and make a decision. Maybe you can save both. Look, Super Bowl was chicken wings and a whole lot of crappy food. Treat yourself this weekend. Tuna and lobster ain't a bad way to be. As usual, great recipes on our website, smallworldseafood.com, for both.

Anyway, clams are in this week. Oysters will be Heart's Desire from Massachusetts. We are offering trout roe this week for your special weekend and no special features besides that since this menu is pretty special anyway. Mushroom from Mycopolitan are yours this week, too! Gosh, so much good stuff.

One last thing. Some of you have been emailing asking about the date on the bottom of the crab meat can. Most seafood is labelled with a production date NOT and expiration date. This crab meat is good until August of this year refrigerated. Just know, we ALWAYS check these things. We ALWAYS try the products first to make sure they are good enough for us and you. We eat it too. We take pride in having high quality products. You are not just customers to us. You are our neighbors and friends. I mean that and we love you.

So, as a reminder that we all need to shower our loved ones this week, what better than a song that provides the right words along with a guy that'll put a smile on your face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkH9rZz67Sk&list=LL&index=18&t=165s

Look out for the order form Thursday at 9am.

Peace,

Robert Amar

Small World Seafood

Owner