Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Save the Gulf Dinner - Lessons on Impact, Oyster Shucking and More

I was thrilled when Foodbuzz announced July's 24x24 Gulf Ambassador Event, bringing 24 bloggers around the world to host a food event over a 24 hour period and to blog about it. This month, Foodbuzz had a special request, asking bloggers to host a "Gulf inspired" event, one that would highlight the impact of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In lieu of the $250 stipend typically given to participants, Foodbuzz will donate that amount - a total of $6,000 to benefit the struggling Gulf Coast fishery community via Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF).

It has been more than three months since the Deep Horizon oil rig explosion, and some of you may be wondering the toll of this enduring oil spill. There are no exact numbers, but here are a few figures to assemble a picture of the ramifications.

Here are a few statistics:

• 4.9 million barrels of oil is estimated to have spilled into the ocean (source)
• 35,000 -  60,000 barrels (about 1.5 - 2.5 million gallons) of oil gush into the ocean daily (source)
• Approximately 630 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline has been contaminated by the BP oil spill (source): 
• 89 miles in Florida
• 364 miles in Louisiana
• 107 miles in Mississippi 
• and 70 miles in Alabama
• Roughly 1.84 million gallons (7 million liters) of dispersant have been applied (source): 
• 1.07 million on the surface and 
• 771,000 subsea
• 17,000 jobs estimated to be lost by year-end because of the oil spill (source)
• At risk is the livelihood of family businesses that took generations to build.
• $1,200,000,000 projected to be lost by year-end due to the oil spill (source)
• 400 species estimated to be at risk, from the base of the chain with oil-eating bacteria, shrimp, crab to endangered sea turtles, brown pelicans and whales. (source)

No one can predict the long-term impact of such high levels of oil and toxins released into the ocean, however it is becoming more and more evident that the damage from the oil spill will span beyond the food chain and through the entire lifecycle of the Gulf's eco-system.




"A major environmental experiment is underway," 

Ron Kendall

Director of the Institute of Environmental and Human Health

Texas Tech University (source)

By most means, what we eat - whether it is seafood or not - will be impacted by this oil spill. From the inability of the business man from Minnesota who grinds oyster shells for chicken-feed supplement to the higher price of shrimp and other commonly sourced seafood from the Gulf, we all need to prepare for significant change.

Getting Used to A New Normal - Substitution When There Really Isn't Any
When we initially planned for our Gulf inspired dinner, three ingredients that instantly popped into my head were: oysters, Gulf shrimp, and crawfish. This thought was quickly followed by a realization that I would have to prepare for substitutions. For example, crawfish unfortunately did not make it onto the menu as it was unavailable fresh or even frozen, which is abnormal. We replaced crawfish with locally caught lobster, which we picked up from  The Lobster Place, our favorite seafood source in New York. Since then, I found out that shrimp is also considered a good substitute whenever a recipe calls for crawfish, but you'll be hard pressed to find Gulf Shrimp to use. Also, this pushes up demand for other types of seafood, which will likely cause prices to follow suit.

Gulf shrimp has been unavailable for a few weeks as the supply of frozen Gulf shrimp has been exhausted at most retailers. In my freezer is a coveted supply wild Gulf shrimp that was used to create a Louisiana-inspired smoky shrimp, sausage and rice dish. I wrote about the pronounced fresh briny sea salt flavors and sweet plump flesh of Louisiana shrimp earlier this year. Gulf shrimp continues to be my favorite variety, the flavors truly set the standard. I will lament the day when I get used to eating bland farmed shrimp.

Oyster Shucking Lesson

The first portion of our Gulf inspired dinner was a lesson on how to shuck oysters. 

I took a few pointers from the shuckers at Hog Island Oysters, and outline the steps below, but there seems to be no sure learn except to practice and be very careful doing so.

First, be sure to have a good oyster knife, one that has a thick handle for gripping. This one was purchased from Williams Sonoma. Also, while we did not use a glove, we would highly recommend using either an oven mitt or towel to hold onto the oyster, which has sharp ridges that can slice fingers.

Pry, wiggle and pop

1. Place the oyster on the cutting board flat side up
2. Insert the knife at the dark, rounded tip of the oyster's hinge 
3. Pry the oyster at the hinge, wiggling the knife right to right to left a bit 
4. Once you feel the knife is firmly in the oyster hinge, twist the knife firmly but gently until the the hinge breaks
5. Lift the shell away and discard - or compost - these shells are rich in minerals 
6. Carefully cut the flesh from the muscle underneath the bottom of the oyster shell and remove any shell particles

Here's how I did it, and I would NOT recommend to you do it this way. I shucked the oyster with my bare hands, prying at the hinge, and then popping the shell. 

While I got away with this one, you can imagine how dangerous a combination of slippery sharp ridged oysters and a pointy forceful knife can get.  So again, we recommend using a good oven mitt to shuck oysters. 

Following the oyster shucking lesson, we sat down to a Calamari, lobster, shrimp and bean salad, which was refreshing and delightful treat with medley of textures, herbal green notes and wonderful summer seafood flavors. 

Seafood and Bean Salad

Ingredients

• 3/4 lb fresh calamari, cleaned
• 1/2 lb of crawfish, lobster and / or shrimp, cooked
• 2 cups white beans, cooked and drained, I used Yellow Indian Woman from Rancho Gordo, but Northern White would work very well
• 1/2 cup shredded red cabbage
• 1/2 cup parsley, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup good olive oil
• Juice from one large lemon, I used a Meyer lemon from Sherry's prolific lemon tree
• sea salt and pepper, to taste, I used Himalayan pink salt, which I have found to work best with seafood

Method

1. For the calamari, rinse in salt water. On a cutting board, take the tubes and slice thinly into rings. Once done, place the sliced calamari and tentacles into a medium (2 QT) sauce pan and add enough cold water to submerge well. Season the water generously with salt, and heat the stove to medium.  Allow the cold water to gently rise in temperature, and the calamari to cook slowly, to ensure that the flesh remains tender. This should take between 20-30 minutes. If the calamari appears to be cooking too, then turn down the heat a notch, and proceed. Pull a ring out after 15-20 minutes to check on doneness. Once done, drain water completely, and add the calamari to a large salad bowl.
2. In the meantime, slice the crawfish, lobster and or shrimp into 1-inch chunks, and place in a large salad bowl. Add the beans, cabbage, parsley and olive oil. Squeeze fresh lemon juice, toss, and salt and pepper, to taste. 

This salad can be prepared a day ahead of time. 

Of course, a Gulf inspired dinner would not be complete without some Creole flavors at the table. I recreated a smoky shrimp and wine basted Andouille sausage dish with red bell pepper rice as a tribute to region. This recipe was originally featured in May, and the recipe can be found here.



How was it you might ask? It's a sensational dish that combines plump and succulent shrimp with meaty well-seasoned sausages and smoky sweet and savory red bell pepper rice, which is complemented with a touch of spice and united with toasted nutty and buttery nuances. While it is not an authentic Louisiana recipe, it inspires many of the exciting Creole flavors of jambalaya.

While this dinner is an event meant to bring awareness to the catastrophe in the Gulf, the subject matter of sustainability ties in very closely.  Before I close this post, I wanted to share with you a message on making the right choices from one of my favorite seafood restaurants in the world, Fish, an establishment in my former home of Sausalito, California.

We hope you have enjoyed our Gulf-inspired dinner as much as we did. The Gulf and its people have a long journey ahead of them before they return to their pre-Deep Horizon explosion life. We all can help. If you are interested, please visit Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF).