Good Food
What lies beneath the ocean waves
Whether you summer by the sea or indulge in a plate of sushi or ceviche now and then, we are far more dependent upon what lies beneath the ocean waves than we think. So we devote this week’s show to the complex ecosystems that live in the briny deep, inhabited by cod, branzino, oysters, mussels, sea vegetables and much more.
Photo by Stan Lee
In this episode
6 storiesThe Codfather
We kick off this week’s watery show with the tale of The Codfather. Reporter Ben Goldfarb covered the rise and fall of Carlos Rafael for the Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN) and Mother Jones magazine.
Read the story10 min'The Fish Market'
“Trust the Gorton’s fisherman,” or so the slogan goes.
Read the story9 minThe Market Report: Branzino with Momotaro tomatoes
This week at the Santa Monica Farmers Market, Ricardo Zarate , the chef-owner of Rosaliné in West Hollywood, is shopping for ají amarillo, huacatay and Japanese Momotaro tomatoes. He uses them in a branzino dish called pescado parrillero, which he learned to cook from an ex-girlfriend’s mom.
Read the story8 min'The Essential Oyster'
When it comes to oysters, Rowan Jacobsen does not mince words: “A good oyster smells like the sea breeze skipping over the shore. A bad oyster smells like a murder victim.”
Read the story11 minA primer on restorative 3-D ocean farming
Bren Smith is the executive director of GreenWave . The longtime commercial fisherman recently discovered restorative 3-D ocean farming of shellfish and seaweed.
Read the story12 minA mission to grow mussels in the Pacific Ocean
Six miles off the coast of Huntington Beach, there are monster waves, Great White sharks and millions of smooth-shelled mussels flourishing on an underwater farm. Our supervising producer Abbie Fentress Swanson takes us on a visit to Catalina Sea Ranch , ahead of its first shellfish harvest in July.
Read the story7 min