Hot tuna, Oysters Rockefeller, overdoing it, counting our blessings and more…
Be of good cheer, the beginning of the holidays means joy to the world, time with family and the bracing of the body for the inevitable indulgence in great food and drink. Even as world events highlight the most evil and ugly on earth, we fight back by moving forward with our businesses, families and holiday plans with a sense of purpose that shows our solidarity with the victims and rejection of all the bad guys stand for.
We are definitely in the mood to count our blessings – family, friends and the gift of our beautiful waters that willingly yield everything from food to fun, to a deep sense of belonging and feeling that the world – with all of its warts – is still a wondrous and beautiful place. Check out Zach Harvey’s thoughts on the ocean and food it yields to us all. Whether you sail or surf on it, gather its bounty or just cannon-ball into it, our ocean is a blessing worth being thankful for this holiday season.
And the Matunuk Oyster tops the list for us as one of the oceans true jewels and something to be truly thankful for. Eaten raw with Perry Raso’s signature green apple mignonette or consumed as his (lighter) version of Oysters Rockefeller, each bite is like a taste of the ocean itself. Whatever anyone tells you, chew these oysters. The slurp and swallow method deprives you of one of life’s most amazing flavors.
To continue the theme of getting the most out of life and enjoying God’s blessings, every now and then you need to buck the rules, call in sick, set aside what you should do for what you must do. When our brother Captain Jock Danforth heard the siren call of the sea and noted the trifecta of weather, opportunity and Atlantic bluefin tuna in the neighborhood last Halloween he dropped everything and headed out with family and friends to have the fishing trip of a lifetime – read his story in all its screaming-line glory in this issue.
And we’re introducing a new monthly feature. In a meeting with one of our readers, a well-respected angler who has read and seen it all, he lamented that there seems to be very little that is truly new to discover in most fishing/angling magazines. He owns a premier outfitter and laughed about one particular magazine – not your Coastal Angler – that dredges up so much retread copy that people regularly come into his shop asking for products that they read about that no longer exist. He said, “Normally be a good thing to have folks coming in to buy products they read about. Only I gotta tell them that that company that made that product went out of business five years ago. That story is a rerun!” So to accent the cure for this sad state of editorial affairs we introduce “Word on the Bite.”
A new column by our Long Island columnist Tom Schlicter, “Word on the Bite” is charged with introducing truly new products and techniques, targeted to a fish that is running that month. Check it out – we would love your input. As always, rants, raves, any commentary, all are truly welcome.
Thanks to our readers, writers and loyal, growing band of advertisers – we couldn’t do it without you. Merry Christmas, and heartfelt wishes for safe and happy holiday from our family to yours.
