Dec 21, 2021 Order Form Fitler/Rittenhouse/Washington Sq only

Well, here comes the fun stuff!! I love the next two weeks because we can all get so excited about preparing meals for the ones we love. There is no greater antidote to the madness going on in the world..sitting with your family and eating a meal you prepared.

Remember, this week and next, ordering is Wednesday for Thursday pick up at the usual places and times.

A quick note to all asking about shelf life and such. I know some of you are planning on making your big meals on Friday or Saturday. Fresh fish such as salmon and striped bass will certainly be good for cooking Friday and Saturday but I would freeze the fish after you pick up if you plan on cooking them after that. Wrap each fillet in plastic wrap and put in a zip lock and freeze. The fresher the fish, the better it freezes and these fish freeze extremely well. Also, oysters and live clams have a week shelf life (oysters more actually) so perfectly good in the fridge undisturbed, cold and dry.

Ok, let me zip through this. First fish is the mighty striped bass. These fillets come skin on and bone out. Great to pan sear skin side down til the skin is crispy (4 minutes or so on high heat in a pan)  then flip and three more minutes on medium heat. We have a great recipe on this technique using black bass fillets but the principle is the same.

The salmon this week comes from one of our favorite places, the Faroe Islands. This salmon is so good raw or cooked. We just love it. One quick note, though. Our cost has been going up steadily on this fish since Thanksgiving and we haven't raised prices but we are forced to now. Sorry about that but prices always spike around the holidays.

We have frozen smelts for those who can't celebrate Christmas without them (or those who, like myself, just love them always). They come in 1lb bags so an easy quantity to deal with, for sure.

Jonah crab claws are available this week! We love these frozen triple scored claws and knuckles that actually come from the Dungeness crab. True story. We posted a nice vid on our website on how to crab them open and I would highly recommend you see it. Just thaw out in your fridge overnight and enjoy with a dipping sauce.

Now the fun stuff non-fish category. First up is applewood smoked bacon from El Camino Real! We absolutely love this stuff. Many of you who have bought some have been having a hard time going back to commercial bacon and for good reason. This is what real bacon should cook and taste like. Very little fat purge, very little shrinkage and full of real flavor. A must.

And then the cheeses from Valley Milkhouse from Berks County. There is nothing more instructive than tasting things side by side whether it is wine, beer or cheese. In this case, you get to try one or both of two pairings. I would recommend both. The first is a bloomy rind cheese that is made two ways and, therefore, a horizontal tasting. One way is the outer shell lined with vegetable ash (Steph calls the cheese Witchgrass) and the other shell lined with dried chamomile (Steph calls this cheese Honey Bell). Beautifully spreadable cheeses that you can drizzle with honey, jams, pair with fruit.

The other pairing is a vertical tasting since it is a contrast of the same cheese at two different points of age. The first is aged 2 months and has fresher, creamier notes while the second is at 8 months of age and has firmer texture with more intense flavors that are nutty and sharp. How much fun is that, right?

As for all the other stuff, I won't go through the whole list but we have lots of really good things including kippered salmon which is cooked smoked salmon and just divine, more pie dough for those who missed out last week as well as escargots. Don't forget stocking stuffers like cedar planks for your friends and our dog treats for your pups!

Anyway, have it people. Here is the order form.

https://smallworldseafood.square.site/

See you tomorrow,

Robert Amar

Small World Seafood

Owner