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Friday, August 1, 2008
What’s your favorite vacation food?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For my family, nothing says “vacation eating” more than freshly caught shellfish. For the last ten summers, we have headed north to Long Beach Island, a small spit of land off New Jersey to visit my in-laws. Their house faces west on a bay, so we are treated not only to magnificent sunsets but to shallow waters filled with shellfish to forage.
Many mornings we head out to try our luck crabbing. We motor to a shallow spot (dropping off a trap on the way as a precautionary measure) near a grassy inlet. Using jury-rigged apparatuses, we lower our bait to the ocean floor and wait for the tug of a hungry crab. On a good day, we have been known to pull in more than two dozen “keepers.”
Once we catch enough for a meal, we return home to cook them with a simple coating of salt and Old Bay seasoning and devour them on a newspaper-covered table.
After a couple of days, when we have had our fill of crabs, we head for another spot in the bay where clams live just under the surface. There we bounce around, looking as if we were crushing grapes for wine, digging our toes deep into the mucky sand to feel the subtle nudge of a hard shell. This year we managed to find 43 clams in less than an hour, thanks to my husband’s size 13 feet and my son’s simian-like toes. After a good rinsing, we prepare a glorious clam sauce to serve over pasta.
By the time our trip comes to a close, we have eaten enough crabs and clams to sustain us until our next visit.
Did you eat something on your summer vacation that was “essay-worthy”? Do you return to a special place or restaurant for a symbolic summer meal - one that you dream of all winter?
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