Category: Epicurean Delights

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Florida Diaries, Day 1: Die, Lionfish, Die!

This is an Indo-Pacific lionfish (from the genus Pterois) from one of my 2017 dives off of Fiji’s coral coast.  Even though I don’t have a red filter on my GoPro and I’m using natural light at about 60 feet down, it’s I think the video conveys the beauty of the animal as it hovers in perfect balance, display its’ delicate fins in a threat display as I approach it.

If you’re not familiar with the lionfish, it’s a predatory reef fish and on those delicate fins are spines which can be used defensively to deliver a painful sting.  As stated by divemaster Mike Ryan to Erin Spencer in National Geographic:

“It won’t kill you, but it’ll make you wish you were dead”.
Continue reading “Florida Diaries, Day 1: Die, Lionfish, Die!”

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Let’s Talk Tuna – Eating Responsibly Without Harming Our Ocean Friends (except the tuna, of course) – Part II (Sushi Edition).

I love sushi.  Spider rolls, seared escolar, ebi, shrimp tempura rolls, etc.   I’ve never been a fan of raw tuna or salmon, not because of the taste, or the idea of raw fish, but the texture of raw tuna and salmon leaves me cold.  Crustaceans  are my jam, which, if I were a shark, would put me in order Orectolobiformes, the carpet shark family. Easy access to crabs, lobster, clams (mollusks are pretty tasty too).  However, as I point out in a post back in February (Fry’s Food Stores and the High Cost of Shrimp), you’re not just eating crustaceans when you order your plate of coconut shrimp or tempura roll, you’re laying waste to the marine environment.

Come at me bro.

Continue reading “Let’s Talk Tuna – Eating Responsibly Without Harming Our Ocean Friends (except the tuna, of course) – Part II (Sushi Edition).”

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The Fiji Chronicles: Prologue – Sustainability and the Ethics of Eating Fish.

The one thing that is very hard for a person who loves the ocean is the idea of eating wildlife, aka fish.  I touch on it a little in my poem “Suicide Bomber“, that everything from the lowly crab to the mighty marlin is classified as “seafood”, as if there is some common thread between these animals, beyond the fact that they both live in the ocean.

Oh, I’m a “soupfin” shark? Thanks for the name, jerks.
Image via Monterey Bay Aquarium

Continue reading “The Fiji Chronicles: Prologue – Sustainability and the Ethics of Eating Fish.”

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Fry’s Food Stores and the High Cost of Shrimp

I love shrimp.

Love it. Maybe more than I like any other food. Grilled shrimp skewers, coconut shrimp, tempura rolls, you name it, I love the taste, I love the texture, shrimp delivers on every level. Popcorn shrimp? Fuck yes. As a wee Klute, Red Lobster’s was my jam, and my father, frustrated that I never ordered anything else, tried to talk me into crab, fish, etc.

Nope. He didn’t understand that part of the appeal of popcorn shrimp was that I could pretend I was a giant baleen whale and I was swallowing a whole school of delicious, golden brown, tiny crustaceans. I just assumed they ate it like I did. I didn’t know where they got the cocktail sauce, but whales were smart.

LOL Pwned.

Continue reading “Fry’s Food Stores and the High Cost of Shrimp”

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Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Shark!

Last night I attended Mahiki Invasion at UnderTow, Phoenix’s new tiki bar that is attempting to resurrect classic tiki bar culture.  It was pretty damn great.  And not just because they started plying us with rum as soon as we entered the door (the three drinks were the Mahiki Bar London’s take on the classic Don the Beachcomber cocktails “Missionary’s Downfall”, “Navy Grog”, and something served in a coconut).  There are a lot worse ways to spend a Thursday night.

Continue reading “Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Shark!”

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