APRIL 20, 2021

HELLO EVERYBODY!!!!

Well, you can really see certain things shifting over the past couple of weeks and I am not just talking about the leaves on trees, the weather and the cherry blossoms (although I have to say that I have been forcing myself to pause and take in the beauty that this spring is bringing to us. It is a real gift after this toughest of winters..). I am talking about people feeling freer to walk around. People feeling more courageous to eat out. People taking the leap to travel and visit family (finally!) or just take a quick vacay to a sunny spot. Seeing everyone so much happier makes me happy. Life can be simple like that.

I keep saying that I am so impressed with what everyone is cooking. Or, more correctly, HOW everyone is cooking. Such a gratifying thing to see you all stretch your culinary boundaries and know that we played a small part in that. It really keeps us motivated to keep pushing ourselves too.

Now, the seafood selection this week is still up in the air, or, errrr, down in the sea, really. The weather was beautiful this weekend and lots of boats made it out. They just haven't all come back in yet so we shall see. What is for sure, though, is we are doing clams this week. Oysters are Rocky Nooks out of Kingston Massachusetts. And, the other usual suspects will be around. Fresh salmon is down a tick in price and that's always nice. It's been a few weeks since you guys have had mushrooms from Mycopolitan but they are back this week! Yayyyyy!!!!

So, we've had a lot of new sign ups over the past month which is great. We love to see new people join this little special club. This has been a referral business model from the beginning and we love it that way. People who join know people who bought and, therefore, add to a community that is interwoven. In other words, a Small World.

For the benefit of the newbies, a few things to know. We maximize freshness by coordinating with our suppliers to ensure we get fish caught as recently as possible. We are not into just selling fish that is always popular. Sometimes, we will sell fish that you may not have heard of or never seen in a supermarket of fish market. But it'll be fresh as hell. Now, what that means in practical terms is that you will generally have 2-3 days to cook it. If you feel you will not cook the fish or all of the fish within three days, rinse it off, pat it dry and wrap each piece in plastic wrap. Then put the fillets in a zip lock and into the freezer. The fresher you freeze, the fresher it will thaw out. Promise. In fact, if you think you will cook it in three days, freeze it when you get home and then thaw it out in your fridge the morning of. You can't go wrong with that.

Shellfish shelf life. (Say THAT 10 times fast..) Most shellfish you see in markets, be it mussels, clams or oysters, have been sitting there for a while. It is the nature of those businesses to hold inventory 7 days a week. We don't have that issue and can time when we get these items as close to the end of the week as possible. You see, when it comes to shellfish, harvest date is the key piece of info. Every week, we time the harvest date with our suppliers to make sure we butt up to the end of the week. What does that mean? Well, it means that your mussels will have a 5 day shelf life. Your clams will have a 7 day shelf life and your oysters should be good for 2 weeks! Now, remember that these little things are alive and using all of their strength to stay shut. They are also not able to open and feed to replenish their energy. So, they will always be tastier and fuller closer to when you bought them but you have wiggle room. Just keep them stored in your fridge DRY and in the mesh bag they come in. That's it. If you submerge them in water, they will try to eat, open up and die.

Okay, kiddies. That's the two tips of the week. I could keep going but I will provide a few more going forward. I am sure the new ones are thinking, "When does this email end? Lots of words... " Yup. But how else are we going to get to know each other, right? It's not my fault, anyway... I come from a family like this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFqxFgVAnlY&list=LL&index=62

Aaaaanyway, nice talking to you. Look out for the order form Thursday at 9am

Peace

Robert Amar
Small World Seafood
Owner