About Gourmet Fish & Seafood
_________________Our mail order seafood brings fresh, diverse, and even rare European seafood varieties right to your door. We offer fresh and frozen fish and shellfish, as well as marinated seafood filet varieties, caviars and smoked seafood.
Orata, or Dorade (gilthead seabream), is a very popular fish in the Mediterranean world. The ancient Greeks considered it sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. It is a flaky white fish with a slightly sweet flavor, and the tender flesh is often used in stews like bouillabaisse and Moroccan tagines, because it does not fall apart when cooked. Orata is considered the best tasting of the breams, and it's native range is the eastern Atlantic on the European, North African and Mediterranean coasts.
Another delicacy of the Mediterranean is the Branzino, or European sea bass, which has a sweet, mild flavor with a velvety texture.. In Greece the Branzino is considered a specialty; in fact journalists use the Greek word for branzino, "lavraki," for likening a juicy exclusive news story to an angler reeling one in. In France, branzino is called loup de mer, wolf of the sea.
Turbot is also prized in the Mediterranean region. A flatfish, turbot has bright white lean flesh and a delicate flavor, often compared to Sole. Red Mullet has also been enjoyed in the region since ancient times, and was described by Pliny as having an oyster flavor. The ancient Romans paid extravagant prices for the firm, lean flesh, buttery texture and unique, delicate taste. Another popular element of the Mediterranean diet are sardines and anchovies. The ones we carry are beautifully packaged and winners of multiple Great Taste awards. Traditionally preserved, without additives, preservatives, or coloring agents, they are available in a variety of flavors: marinated in oil, with chilis or garlic, salted, with basil, with olives, and more.
Dover Sole is a mainstay of traditional European cooking. It has a mildly sweet, non-fishy flavor, and glistening white flesh. It is caught off the coasts of Britain and France. Much of what is sold in the US as Dover Sole is in fact Flounder, but the real thing is not to be missed. A simple preparation of Dover Sole was the first dish Julia Child ate while in France, which inspired her to become a chef.
In traveling from the Mediterranean to Australia, another fish worth making the acquaintance of is the Barramundi. A moist, white-fleshed fish with good fat content that keeps it from drying out when cooked, Barramundi’s mild flavor is buttery and sweet. Our Barramundi are sustainably raised in the US in an environmentally sound indoor fish farm, without the use of antibiotics or hormones, in purified water. If you are concerned about mercury levels in your fish or overfishing, Barramundi is an excellent choice. Our Barramundi are also particularly rich in omega-3’s.
Of course we also provide the classics, with an extensive variety of Salmon, Tuna, Swordfish, Halibut, Striped Bass, Red Snapper, Tilapia, Mahi Mahi, Cod, Monkfish, Chilean Seabass, Haddock, John Dory, and many others.
As an added complement, we also carry other seafoods, both fresh and frozen. Shrimp to scallops, regional oysters, clams and mussels, calamari and octopus, lobsters and langostino, crab, even squid ink and seaweed are all available.
Squid (calamari) and octopus are commonly eaten throughout the Mediterranean region (and in Asia as well). Battered and quick-fried calamari rings are perhaps the most familiar preparation to North Americans, but in Europe squid or octopus are also simmered slowly in liquid until tender. In Spain, cooks sometimes stew squid in their own black ink. The ink is also used as an ingredient in other dishes like pasta or risotto. Baby calamari and octopus are often used in seafood salad or battered and fried whole.
Our smoked and dried seafood range goes beyond just your typical smoked salmon. One Italian (and Portuguese) favorite is Baccalao, which is salted and dried cod. It should be soaked before use due to the salting, but when properly prepared it is surprisingly unfishy tasting, firm and slightly chewy. A popular Catholic Friday and Lenten ingredient, in Portugal it is often sought after around Christmastime.
Another Mediterranean delicacy is Bottarga, sometimes called "the poor person's caviar." This is cured fish roe, also known as Poutargue or Boutargue in French, Botarga in Spanish, Batarekh in Arabic or Avgotaraho in Greek. In Italy Bottarga is a specialty of Sardinia and Sicily, and can be made from a variety of fish. Bottarga di Muggine is made from Grey Mullet; we also stock Bottarga di Tuna. The roe pouch is hand massaged to ensure there are no air pockets, then cured and dried in sea salt for a few weeks until it becomes a hard slab. This is typically preserved in beeswax and used thinly sliced. Preserving the roe through this process is an ancient regional technique. The flavor of Bottarga is rich, with both sweet and briny tones. Just a little has a big flavor impact.
Much of our smoked seafood is sourced from a smoker in New England who begins with prime seafood in small batches, using small ovens and real woodsmoke under the seafood, not piped-in smoke or liquid smoke. We stock smoked mussels, smoked trout, smoked tuna, smoked cod, and more.
Naturally, we also stock several varieties of caviar for the connoisseur, including Ossetra caviar. This comes from the Ossetra sturgeon and has a buttery, nutty flavor which is highly valued, and many feel it is the best tasting of all caviars. Ossetra caviar is firmer in texture than Beluga caviar and comes in a range of colors. We stock both black and golden, which is rare and extremely rich in flavor. We have Ossetra caviar from both Iran and Italy. Another of our caviars is Sevruga, sourced from both Russia and Iran. Sevruga is the most abundant of the sturgeon caviars, and also the one with the strongest flavor. It has small roe with an intense buttery salty flavor.
American Golden Whitefish caviar is as the name suggests, a beautifully colored golden roe with small firm grains and a mild, subtle flavor. Our American Hackleback caviar comes from another sturgeon species, the shovelnose or hackleback sturgeon, native to the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. It is a black caviar with firm eggs and a nutty flavor quite similar to Sevruga caviar. The Sturgeon's close relative, the American Paddlefish offers caviar with glossy beads and a buttery flavor with a fresh sea taste. Both the Whitefish and Paddlefish caviars make excellent substitutes for Caspian Sea caviars. However, we also stock numerous non-sturgeon caviars, which are well worth tasting in their variety. Alaskan Salmon caviar, with its bright orange pop-in-your-mouth roe, packs an intense flavor and is a favorite for sushi fanatics. American Trout caviar also has the pop in your mouth characteristic, with larger beads. Another favorite sushi caviar is Tobiko, from flying fish caught in Icelandic waters, which features sweet and salty overtones and a slight crunch. We have these caviars available in red, black, green, and orange. The orange is natural while the others are flavored with chili pepper, squid ink, and wasabi respectively.
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