The Second Time is Harder, Sashimi Tuna and a Neighborhood Plug

Dear Friends of  Fantastically Fresh Fish,

Neighborhood Plug
I had lunch last weekend at 1001 Nights at the corner of Wilson Road and 141 in the shopping center with Great Harvest.  I had been there before when it had a different name and was completely unimpressed, but last weekend I found out is has new ownership and great Persian food!

www.1001nightspersiancuisine.com

The Second Time is the Hardest

I took a vacation a few weeks ago and did two things I have always wanted to do.  I visited Las Vegas and I hiked in the Grand Canyon.  What a trip!  I flew into Vegas where it took all of one evening  to realize that I do not know how to gamble.  The next day I drove to Peach Springs, AZ for a three day hike to Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls.

Jumping off cliffs is something I would NEVER have done in my youth but something I feel much more comfortable doing as an adult.  On my Grand Canyon trip, there were lots of places to jump into creeks and waterfalls and I took advantage of every one.  I discovered something interesting about taking risks:  it's way easier to make the first jump than the second.  That seems strange because, if you are standing there contemplating the second jump, you obviously survived the first!  I can only explain it this way - I'm the sort of person who loves a challenge.  If you tell me the water is deep enough and that other people jump at this place all the time, I will gather up all my nerve and with very little thought at all, I will charge up that hill, trot right to the edge and JUMP! 

The second time must be harder because I have already proven that I can do it.   I don't have all the adrenaline rush that propels me to the edge.  Nobody is paying much attention to me jumping the second time.  There is time to contemplate, "What the heck was I thinking jumping off a cliff at 52 years old?"  There is a lot more to tell about this amazing trip but since this is really a seafood blog I have to make some connection to my work. Here is the connection:

I'm jumping off a different sort of cliff for the second time with my new store in Milton. 
The opening is just two weeks away.   And I'm having all those second jump anxieties.


Things are going along perfectly. The Milton community seems very excited at the thought of a seafood market in the neighborhood.  The new space is in a gorgeous building and is coming together just like I envisioned.  It's a chance for me to do all the things I wished I had done in Johns Creek.  After all, I opened the Johns Creek with my eyes squeezed shut.  With the opening of the new store, my eyes are wide open.  My fingers are crossed but my eyes are open.

And my Johns Creek customers are stopping by to check on progress.  Here's Johns Creek customer Pam Scripture checking out my new store in Milton. 

Opening day is scheduled for August 29th.  More details next week...

A Favorite Tuna Recipe
The lovely Sherry Tennant gave us this delicious recipe for sashimi tuna.  I stood in the kitchen and ate it out of the mixing bowl.  I mean really.  I barely got it to the table. 

Sherry's Sashimi Tuna 

1 lb tuna

2 serrano peppers, seeded and very finely chopped

1 T plus 1t finely grated ginger

1T toasted sesame seeds

1 clove garlic through garlic press

½ t kosher salt

¼ c canola oil

2 t sesame oil

1 t distilled white vinegar

1 t fish sauce

Toast sesame seeds.  Either finely chop or puree in mini-chopper the peppers, ginger, garlic and salt until somewhat of a paste forms.  Add sesame seeds.  Then add both oils, fish sauce and vinegar.  Add diced tuna and mix.  Serve with crackers or toasted won ton chips.

Back to School
Here they are...another year older!  Our babies' first day back at school. 

$20.00 in free discount fish to the first person who can correctly match each child with their Kathleen's Catch parent!

Hope everyone survived that first day!  Have a great first weekend!

Blessings,

Kathleen

We Need to Be Farming Fish if We Want to Continue to Eat Fish

We Need to be Farming Fish if We Want to Continue Eating Wild-Caught Fish

You and I both love our wild caught fish. At Kathleen’s Catch our cases practically overflow with beautiful Gulf red snapper, Alaskan halibut, Pacific cod, wild striped bass and, when it is in season, wild Alaskan salmon.  These beautiful fish are some of the greatest treasures available to us.   If our grandchildren and their children are going to enjoy wild caught fish, we have to support aquaculture when it is done correctly.  At Kathleen’s Catch we source our farmed fish from the very best aquaculture operations in the world.       

Let’s say that over the next 35 years, the US continues to set an international example for responsible, sustainable fisheries practices and other countries follow suit so that the number of fish in the sea does not fall to a lower level than it is now.  And let’s say that the per capita consumption of fish stays exactly where it is now.  We are in for some trouble because the United Nations estimates a global population growth to 9.6 billion by 2050.  This mean a 40% increase in demand for proteins. 

Knowing that resources for increased land protein production will be limited, the question then becomes how to increase protein production from the sea.  The only feasible answer is aquaculture.  And at Kathleen’s Catch, that’s not a bad thing because we believe that our food should come from operations with the highest levels of animal husbandry and the best tasting products available with a minimal impact on the environment.

The Carbon Finprint

Did you know that there is less environmental impact from the production of farmed salmon compared to other protein sources?  The carbon footprint of farmed salmon is 2.9 carbon equivalents per pound of edible product.    For chicken, it is 3.4 and for beef, it is as much as 30 carbon equivalents per pound of edible product.  If CO2 emissions are a concern to you, then farmed salmon on your dinner plate makes a lot more sense than a steak.

A Fish Out of Water?

In Norway, it takes 1400 liters of fresh water to produce 1 kg of edible product of farmed salmon and with the increased use of recirculating ponds that number is falling fast.  For chicken it takes 4300 liters of water.  For pork it takes 6000 liters and for beef, 15,400 liters of water per kg of edible product!  

I know that this seems to be a bunch of statistics that are hard to translate into the meal on your dinner plate.  Just think this.  The charge that farmed fish equals damage to the environment and the world’s oceans is not true!  If aquaculture is done correctly, you can eat some of the world’s best tasting fish without a moment of doubt about the future of the world’s oceans.  And you don’t have to worry about what our grandchildren and their children are going to eat. 

An Abundance of Fishes, King Salmon and a Trip to the Grand Canyon

Dear Fish Friends,
 

This week we see the law of supply and demand at work.  Three months ago we saw the first of the king (Chinook) salmon appear from the Columbia River and a month later the kings made their appearance in the Copper River.   At Kathleen's Catch,  we had to charge you $39.99/lb. to cover our cost of these expensive fish.  On this day in July, you will find wild, fresh Alaskan king salmon on special for $17.99.  What difference a few months makes!!   Some people will swear that the kings from the Columbia and Copper Rivers are worth every penny of their $39.99 price tag because they have a very high fat content.  But king salmon from anywhere is an amazing fish.  There's a reason it's called king!  Right now kings are coming from all around southeast Alaska, both troll caught and net caught.  They are very plentiful this year, hence a price tag lower than we've seen in maybe 7 years!  An abundance of fish means a lower price at the seafood counter.

Here one of my favorite salmon dishes:

1.  Whip up some cole slaw with a light dressing and some sesame oil.

2,  Make your favorite cheese grits.  Mine is from The Flying Biscuit:

Flying Biscuit Creamy Dreamy Grits

3,  Grill salmon to desired doneness while basting with your favorite barbeque sauce.

4,  Dig out that bottle of hot chile oil you never know what to do with.  I buy the Hokan kind.

5.  Plate it this way:  grits in the center, cole slaw on top of the grits, barbeque salmon on the slaw and chile oil drizzled over the whole thing. 

Yep.  It's good.

 There's More Fish Around This Year
Speaking of abundance, salmon is not the only wild fish that there is plenty of this year.  In April of 2015 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released their annual report on the condition of fish stocks in the United States.  In this report they list fish that are classified as "overfishing" which mean the catch limits are too high and those that are "overfished" meaning the population of fish is too low - whether from fishing or other causes.  This year six stocks were removed from the overfishing category and two from the overfished category.    Domestic fish listed as overfished or subject to overfishing has dropped to the lowest level since 1997 when these stocks began being tracked.

Eileen Sobek with the NOAA says this:

"Our agency wants to let consumers know that the United States' global leadership in responsible fisheries and sustainable seafood is paying off. We are moving forward more than ever with efforts to replicate and export stewardship practices internationally. As a result of the combined efforts of NOAA Fisheries, the regional fishery management councils, and all of our partners, the number of stocks listed as subject to overfishing or overfished continues to decline and is at an all-time low.

What's the takeaway?  The United States leads the world in responsible fishing.  Our excellent management of the oceans' resources is something we should all feel good about.    I still believe strongly that the best protein source for the world's burgeoning population is aquaculture done right.  After all, the world's population is growing faster than the oceans can product fish.  We HAVE to have an alternative to wild fish.  But the United States is setting an example for the rest of the world on how to properly manage the resources so that they will be around for future generations to enjoy.

Here's the whole report if you are interested:

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2015/20150415-us-fisheries-continue-to-rebuild-overfishing-and-overfished-numbers-at-all-time-lows.html 

And Finally

 Kathleen's Catch #2 is coming along nicely and we are still looking toward a mid-August opening.  Before the second store opens, I am headed off for a vacation out west.  Next week I am hiking the Grand Canyon!   I can scratch one thing off my list of things I never thought I would do in my old age.  If all goes well, and I can climb back up out of that hole, I'll be back to work by Saturday the 

18th.  Cross your fingers.

I'm going to try to make a logical conclusion here and tie my salmon story to my upcoming vacation.  Salmon swim around in the ocean for years getting fat enough to reach their natal springs way up in the rivers.  The greater the elevation change in the river, the fatter they have to be to make it home.  I'm getting ready to experience some serious elevation changes at the Grand Canyon. I am going to  spend the next few days eating cake.  :)

Be grateful for the abundance in your life this week. 

Blessings,
 

Kathleen

We Are Growing!

Dear Friends of Fantastically Fresh Fish,

By now most of you have heard that Kathleen's Catch is growing.   We have signed a lease at the Crabapple Mercantile Exchange Building on Crabapple Road in Milton and plan to open our second store sometime in August.   Not much will change around the Johns Creek store.  Colin will still be the manager.  Ashley and Bob will remain in Johns Creek.  Sandy McQueen, our sort of new employee, will be working a couple of nights a week. 

The biggest change is that Sara is going to be the new manager at the Milton location. You think it is going to be hard for you to say goodbye to Sara?  How about Ashley?   They have been buds for a long, long time.   Here's a photo of the two of them that is at least 10 years old:

 And here they are a year or two ago:

 
We can't keep all that pretty red hair in one store.  It just wouldn't be fair.

Speaking of red hair, our new location is at 12650 Crabapple Road in Milton, two doors down from the Olde Blind Dog Irish Pub.   You may have seen the article in the L. A. Times recently listing the Olde Blind Dog as the 2015 best Irish pub by the extragalactic sounding Irish Pubs Global Federation. Click here for the article.  Yep Kathleen's Catch is next door to the best Irish pub in the world.   Is it a coincidence that we are locating next to an Irish pub?  Decide for yourselves.

I continue to be amazed at what a wonderful group of people shop at our store in Johns Creek.  And while our landlord in Johns Creek refers to the JC location as the "world headquarters of Kathleen's Catch", Johns Creek will always feel like home to me.

 It was drizzling as I came out of the building in Milton last week after a meeting.  This is what I saw when I reached the parking lot:

The biggest, brightest rainbow I have ever seen.  A sign?  I'll take it!
 
Blessings,

Kathleen

Sockeye Salmon from the Copper River and The Fishing Village Gets Built

Hey Y'all,

Happy Salmon Season!

It's a salmon lovers favorite time of the year!  The wild salmon season is underway and we have both king salmon and sockeye salmon in our store this week.

Wild salmon is a favorite subject of mine.  Every year I get to expound on the mystery of their journey home to their spawning ponds.  And every year I continue to be amazed by how many lessons we can learn from the life cycle of the salmon.

The Salmon Life Cycle

Newborn salmon (called alevin) begin life in freshwater creeks and rivers.  They enter the world with a food sack attached to them which nourishes them until they are big enough to leave the nest to search out food for themselves.  (Lesson #1:  Some creatures start life with a distinct advantage.)

Alevin with its food sack 

As they mature they become camouflaged with parr marks that keep them from being noticed by predators.  (Lesson #2:  Sometimes it is a good idea to just blend into the background.)

 When they get a little older they turn silver and are called smolts and head to the mouth of the river.  (Lesson #3:  A little silver does not mean you don't have a lot of living left to do.)

Smolts with parr marks

When they reach the estuary, where the river meets the sea, they adapt themselves to a saltwater environment.  (Lesson #4:  Be flexible.)

When they are able, they head out to the Pacific Ocean and spend most of the rest of their lives swimming sometimes thousands of miles in the ocean, maturing and storing up fat. (Lesson #5:  Work hard and save up, and don't forget where you come from.)

As they reach the end of their lives, they head back to the river where they were raised.  (Lesson #6:  Spend your life exploring, but when the time comes, you are going to want to be in familiar territory.)

Because they have spent years fattening up in the ocean and they are firm muscular fish, once they enter the mouth of the river, they don't eat any more.  (Lesson #7:  At some point in your life you are going to need to rely on resources you have previously earned.)

They use all their energy to power themselves up the river where they arrive at their natal stream, the place of their birth.  (Lesson #8:  You really can go home again.)

 

 The female sweeps her tail to create a nest and lays her eggs. (Lesson #9:  Provide enough for your children to get a good start.)

 The male comes along and fertilized the eggs.  (Lesson #10:  It takes two to tango.)

Both male and female salmon die.  (Lesson #11:  See what having kids can do to you?)

Building A Fishing Village

Last year, at Kathleen's Catch, we started contemplating what seemed to be close to impossible, building a fishing village in Honduras. At a $65,000 price tag, we were going to have to work pretty hard to make it happen.   


Why a fishing village?  Why Honduras?

A fishing village because, well, we are fishmongers and we make our living from the bounty of the sea.

And Honduras because we felt a strong desire to do something to help with the crisis of undocumented and unaccompanied minors crossing our southern border from Central America.  It was our thinking that if we could do something that would help to improve the lives of even just a small community in, say, Honduras, we could create an environment where parents would be able to raise their children.  Maybe they wouldn't feel like they HAD to send their children away on the dangerous journey through Mexico to the United States.

By mid-summer we had hooked up with Food for the Poor, worked out some details and started spreading the word to raise the money.  Our core team of volunteers worked very hard to plan fundraising events and to advertise our goal:  Tracey Slauer, Celeste Gravois, Janice Howard and Liz Yancey.    Here's another lesson to go with the salmon lessons:  You need something done?  Get with these four women.  No kidding.

Besides being eternally grateful to them, I  want to thank all the donors who wrote big checks (and small ones too), all the people who dropped change and dollars (sometimes even twenties!) in our change jar at the store, and all the businesses who provided us with services and products for our fundraising either free of charge or at greatly reduced prices.  Because of them we got a long way toward reaching our goal. 

And finally, when we had exhausted all our efforts and resources,  Light A Single Candle came in and took us the rest of the way.

So here we are, a year later, laying out the final plans for the construction of the La Laguna Fishing Village in Guanaja Bay Island, Honduras and anticipating a ribbon cutting in the fall.   I can hardly believe we have done it!

Thank you again, to all of my Johns Creek family.  You amaze me every day with your kindness and generosity.  Our little city is thriving because of good people like you.

Blessings,

Kathleen