What’s Cookin’? - Smithtown
By Nancy Vallarella
How to Dish a Local Fish
During my childhood summers, my dad and I would pack a lunch and fishing gear and head out to the Hamptons to rent a boat barely big enough for the both of us at a place called Oscar’s. We would spend the day fishing together. I was grateful for the time spent out on the water and for the fact that my dad would never complain about baiting my hook when I did not have the courage to do it myself. He was just as grateful for my ability to hang onto the fishing pole when it started to jerk and wiggle as the fish started to bite. We would come home with a trunk load of fish, mostly fluke or flounder. Dad would begin the messy task of butchering the fish and mom would cook up a batch while packaging up fillets for friends and neighbors. The waste (fish heads, scales, guts and tails) was buried in our garden. At night fall, the neighborhood cats would meow a lullaby while looking for the buried fish parts. Mom was right – “fish is brain food”. Over 40 years later that memory is crystal clear in my mind’s eye.
;)
Steve Sicari, Jr.;)
Steve SicariFishing enthusiast and co-owner the B.L.T. Café in Saint James, Steve Sicari possesses a wealth of local fishing information. “Right now you can catch striped bass in Porpoise Channel in Stony Brook”, he shares with me with a giant grin and sparkle in his eyes. “I like to throw the fillets on the grill with a little olive oil and lemon”. In addition to a home style breakfast and lunch, you can pick up the latest weekly edition of The Fisherman at the B.L.T. Café. The sign on the B.L.T. Café reads: Breakfast – Lunch – Take Out. One may think the acronym really stands for Breakfast – Lunch – Tale (as in fish). Here is Steve and his son with some beautiful striped bass that didn’t get away.
You don’t have to get your pole out to enjoy local fish. Gail and Mark Nelson of Ocean’s Bounty Seafood, 
Gail’s Clamsalso in Saint James, sell a varying assortment of local commercially harvested seafood. Right now clams, steamers and mussels are plentiful. Instead of telling the tale of how the fish was caught, Gail will enthusiastically share how to prepare it and the tale of where, when and who dined on that recipe with her. Invite friends over to help cook and eat. Throw in a little local vino and presto…. a fish tale is created.
On Smithtown Matters Food and Restaurant Guide you can find great recipes for clams and white fish provided by Gail of Ocean’s Bounty Seafood.
Post a picture and tell a little tale of your fresh fish catch or cooked fish dish on Smithtown Matters facebook page www.facebook.com/SmithtownMatters between now and August 31, 2013 and you will be entered to win a $20 gift certificate at Ocean’s Bounty Seafood or a $20 gift certificate at the B.L.T. Café. Good luck and happy fishing and dishing!