Cape Native

I love this article, Bethany!!

I hesitated at freezing any, but I'll give it a shot. I've heard you can freeze them in milk, but I think I'll vac seal them.

I got ten pounds. The beauty is the freeze marvelously so we will be enjoying them all winter long. Last night we made scallops over fettuccine, with artichoke hearts and sun dried tomatoes. Delicious!!

I forgot one of my faves...Belchertown :)

How I wish Braintree abutted Marblehead.
So, a guy walks into the Land Ho! and says, "I'd like a Sandwich and a Brewster with a side a Mashpees..."

How about the pronunciation of Athol?
We have some great names here in Massachussetts, don't forget Marblehead......

my husband is a washashore too and he thinks it's really funny to get our son to say it wrong....totally grates on my nerves....lol

Peebiddy, indeed, and for advanced speakers, Medford is definitely "Meffuhd", but for Cape visitors, Chatham is always Chat-um, while Eastham is never East-um, but rather East-HAM.
As a side note, there is a saying known only to locals that involves "Easthaming a beer," which is to leave two inches at the bottom of the bottle or can or cup, which results in heavy yellow jacket activity during high summer keggers and a messy clean-up for hosts any time of year.

Thanks for the pronunciation guide, Bethany, I have always been irritated by the incorrect usage -- much like I've been annoyed by folks who promounce the town of Peabody as "Pea-body" instead if "Peebiddy" as the good Lord intended.

and of course I don't even need to point out that "Gloucester" is "Gloster" and "Worcester" is "Woosta."

I just had the same pronunciation conversation with my wonderful wash-a-shore guy. I don't think he was taking me seriously until I told him that if he ever said it like that while we were out I would truly pretend I wasn't with him.

Thanks for the recipe, Bethany!
Scallops are one of my favorite foods.
Marinating them raw in vinagrette is very good, even using balsamic vinegar, or cranberry vinegrette.
I also love pan-blackened scallops with a lemon-infused tartar dip.

Where was that spot again?

Bethany,

Try the international isle. Often, it's not carried but if lucky it might just be there.

Thanks Jonathan... Ana, after searching around, I've come up empty on red wine pickled onions. I have to get that recipe from you!
Samich - Child's Homestead? The benz's you say?? I think I've spent some time in that cellar, but I obviously missed the roots class there!

There's a really nice root cellar on Child's Homestead Road, at the Benz's old house, that was in active use in the '60's...

I skipped out on the onions this year, but had I not, I would have red wine pickled onions right now.

Great to hear from you, Bethany!

Great story, Bethany!
I like the methods, very thorough and sanitary.

That was a reply to Ned's comment, not yours Julie! But I suppose it works both ways!

We've been suspected of that kind of mojo. In fact, we always have some older birds around, and young roosters, that can be provided for such important occasions - and we also have the honey.

Great story, Bethany. People should understand that meat doesn't start out in styrofoam and shrinkwrap.

Sounds like you'll have some dee-lish chicken dinners soon from hormone and antibiotic-free birds who got to walk around outside and live a chicken life instead of being one of a million Perdue birds crammed in a building.

Bethany if you were into Santeria this would be a double-banger! Propitiate the Lwa and taste the poultry too... Chicken Chango!!

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

He's beautiful, congratulations.

Etymology and history of names;
Pronounced {Ploo-toh}

thank you bethany.....beautiful story...i am so grateful for the wonderful father we had...and the brother and sister he gave me. god bless you dad

Bethany: Your Dad would have loved this: http://swingjazzblues.blogspot.com/2008/05/dancin-boogie-silvan-zingg-will-mava.html - Tony

Tony, my father was quite fond of you and always spoke highly about you. I know he loved getting your emails. Tight lines - B.

Don't know if it was coincidence or karma but I had just picked up Against the Tide the other day.

"Spitting oil and breathing water,..."

Reminds me of the old days.

The photograph brought Brian back full blast - he always looked on the bright side and was one of the oldest, best friends I had in the business. He used to kid me about being chief lifeguard at Nauset in the 50s. I'm 74 now, and still fishing off North Carolina. I still miss Brian...Tony

Wow, excellent piece! Thank you so much for posting this, Beth. A fitting tribute to a great father, a great fisherman and most importantly, a great guy. And in his own words, at that! I can remember Dad telling me the cracked ribs story over dinner one time.

Nice story, Bethany. May your Dad rest in peace.

Yes, the blue crab season in Pleasure Island, NC is in full swing. The wife and I have already enjoyed our version of "spicy crab roll", simply steamed, and await my wife's delicate crab cakes and white crab sauce over pasta. After a long aggravating day at work, the question: "Do you want to go crabbing?" takes not a second for a response.
All the best,
-Mister Crab

As for crabbing in ponds, ideal tide level would have to depend on where you are crabbing from and what kind of flush the marsh gets. When I scoop in ponds, it is from in the water, and I like the tide to be high enough to hit the grass on the banks, which entices the crabs to hang around close to shore and even move into the grass a bit. Low tide doesn't seem to work anywhere I've tried. High tide usually results in the crabs being too deep - unless, of course, you are scooping from pilings. Outgoing is a little better than incoming, as the crabs hang out waiting for bait to flow by as the tide receeds.
I have found fresh bluefish or pogies are the best crab bait. Using pogies has the added bonus of your getting to snag them, which is another story altogether. Keeping some snagging hooks in the tackle box is key. But bluefish heads and tail sections have the added bonus of your having had the pleasure of eating them the night before. Either way, big aggressive crabs will be your reward.
I use a crab net that is attached to a pole about the same length as a broomstick.

Wonderful article Bethany, as usual you entice all the senses. My son and I have been crabbing--or should I say trying to crab--for years in the marsh ponds around Seconsett. Some years we get lucky and some years, like last year, with a whole family out crabbing, we caught nothing. We use the chicken, twine, and scoop net approach, dang it's hard to get the crabs close enough to shore to get the net on them. We've found that the thin wire nets work best. But last year the crabs seemed scarce. A few quick questions. 1. Is low tide better than high for crabbing? 2. We've always used chicken because it holds together better, but will using fish attract more crabs? 3. Any other tips you'd care to share would be most welcome.

Thanks pizza... j. - I certainly mean no disrespect to the wonderful Vietnamese crabbers, if the other locals showed up in equal numbers and possessed even a fraction of the enthusiasm for this delicious catch, I too suspect we would see a more equal representation in poaching. Night fishing for crabs with a spotlight is great fun. We make regular trips to Sound-side docks with a big spotlight and find blue crabs clinging to the pilings. Netting a crab from a piling is no easy task, and with boats secured tightly to the docks with rope, there have been many near catastrophies as a crabber with net and bucket and light trips over the lines and almost takes a midnight dip!

Agree pizzatime! I don't think the Vietnamese have any difficulty reading signs in English. This may have been true a decade or more ago but no longer. My hunch is, if you could size every crab taken, a very wide variety of culprits would be identified. I hunted Blueclaw Crab as a very young boy at Indian Mound Beach in Buttermilk Bay in the early 50's. Johnny Casey and I would go out at night in a dingy, and lie noiseless, shining a flashlight into the muck. "I see one", I whispered. Johnny quickly stood up, I moved quickly to stabilize myself, Johnny went overboard, knee deep into the muck. The memory brings big smiles to this day. What fun we had. If we failed to net the Blue Crab, it lived to grow bigger. That's how fast it disappeared below the surface of the mud. I do treasure the memories of those years.

Fantastic article! I really enjoy reading your columns.

I hope it is not an allergy situation... maybe a 'turkey fryer' set up with a propane tank would allow you to cook with impunity the stinky treasures of the sea. I use a cast iron pan right over the gas for blackening blues.
Scallops sound divine!

Great post, Bethany, The little one seems ready to roll!!
Sadly I am the only one in the family who consumes seafood. It makes me long for my old days in foodservice,when i could eat seafood any time I wanted. Mmm, blackened scallops for lunch!!