The Idea Blog

Several years ago I read an article by Mark Singer in The New Yorker about a New York restaurant (Esca) and chef (David Pasternack). Gone Fishing introduced me to crudo, a better-than-sushi way of eating raw fish.

Yesterday, Betty and I went fishing on the docks of Fort Myers Beach, where we came up with $11 worth of grouper cheeks, scallops and something called “hog snapper.” And last night we prepared it based on inspiration from the article. If not in the style of Pasternack, our crudo tasted mighty fine, accented by a nice Chardonnay (for Betty) and Zinfandel (for me).

First we squeezed three limes and two lemons on the cutting boards where we’d spread our raw fish. Then we sprinkled pepper – lots of pepper – on each. Sea salt in one dipping cup, a wonderful olive oil in another.

We filled ourselves with fish, only fish, and felt we’d dined out at a fine restaurant. In a way I guess we did.