We don’t just enjoy catching fish. We also enjoy the dining on the catch of the day from time to time. And it’s no secret that down in the South, most of us know our way around the kitchen and enjoy taking part in the finer things. We had the chance to catch up with two friends of The Watery Rave who happen to be experts in that area, Matt and Ted Lee, also known as The Lee Bros. Matt and Ted grew up in Charleston, SC, and in 1994 founded The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue, a mail-order source for southern pantry staples such as stone-ground grits, fig preserves and the like. Their first cookbook, The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook, received the James Beard Award for Cookbook of the Year in 2007. They are contributing editors for Travel + Leisure and the wine columnists for Martha Stewart Living. Here’s a bit of what we talked about:
WR: In terms of trends, movements, even paradigm shifts within the food / restaurant industry – what are you guys seeing specific to the idea of sustainable seafood?
LB: We’ve noticed that the specific species that are proclaimed as overfished or “safe” change gradually over a few years as the stocks fluctuate, which makes the subject murky and difficult to track for the average seafood consumer. Increasingly, though, the restaurant chefs have stepped in and become the conduits for that information, which is a huge help to everyone. Chefs, by the way, are also the people driving the search for local species that are tasty and rare in the marketplace, but abundant in the oceans. Chefs want their food to stand out–and diners are becoming more adventuresome–so an exotic local fish with a clean bill of health is tastier than an endangered bluefin any day.
WR: Have you noticed any impact of the BP oil disaster in the gulf when it comes to buying and cooking seafood?
LB: We’re still seeing some Gulf fish and shellfish coming into markets in the Lowcountry–because it’s a long coastline, and not every fisherman has (yet) been touched by this. But we’re not sure for how much longer that’ll be the case. And for some of our friends, like Susan Spicer, chef of the New Orleans restaurants Bayona and Mondo, who just filed a class-action against BP on behalf of the region’s chefs, the restrictions on commercial fishing that are in place are already keeping them from doing their jobs.
WR: Why do Southerners make such good cooks? Or is that totally myth?
LB: Southerners are great cooks because they tend to be better informed about their culinary heritage, and at the same time they wield what we call a “spirited resourcefulness” in the kitchen–a gift for improvisation that celebrates (rather than apologizes for) the genius of using what you have on hand creatively and avoiding a third trip to the grocery store. It’s hard to put a finger on, but it’s basically a MacGyver frame of mind that crosses over from the world of the great outdoors, into the kitchen, into the homemade hooch shed and back into the kitchen again. We cook to have fun and to pull off great heists.
WR: When you’re not cooking it yourselves, where do you guys like to eat seafood? Care to share any of your favorite haunts?
LB: We prefer to eat seafood as close to the docks as possible, and we favor places that proclaim the source of their stuff, and serve it in season: The Wreck in Mt. Pleasant, SC, The Shrimp Shack on St. Helena Isl., SC, Nick’s Fish House in Baltimore, Five Islands Lobster in Georgetown, Maine.
WR: Do you guys ever cook what you catch?
LB: Of course, last season we nabbed striped bass, blue crab, shrimp and oysters–although we rarely cook the latter!
WR: What are you guys digging outside of the kitchen these days?
LB: Ted’s into esoteric cheap sneaks from the 1980s; Matt’s been collecting 19th century photos of the southern outdoors. Matt’s settling into his new role as dad–and Ted as uncle–to Arthur, born in September, just before the book launch and our book tour.
WR: Thanks fellas.
LB: Rave on!
Check out www.simplefreshsouthern.com for technique videos, bonus recipes, and a schedule of where you can catch the Lee Bros. in person.
And if you’re angling for some earth shattering mouth candy, poke here:
boiledpeanuts.com
Tags: Bonefish, BTT, conservation, Costa, Fishing, Flats, Mar, Permit, Project, Sunglasses