The Yum of Shrimp

“Shrimp is the fruit of the sea,” says Bubba (Buford Blue) in the movie, Forest Gump. “You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it. There’s, uh, shrimp kebabs, shrimp Creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That—that’s about it.”

To me there is no better taste of an American summer than shrimp. It was a delicacy that I appreciated growing up, below the Mason Dixon line. My grandmother, from Savannah, Ga, loved seafood, and when she would buy fresh shrimp at the local A&P, back when it was undoubtedly caught off the Southeast coast, and boil it on the stove in the non-airconditioned kitchen it was such a treat. Maryland crabs have always seemed more difficult to cook and therefore I saw few of them on my plate. With shrimp, as Bubba says, there are so many ways to cook it. And all you have to do is peal it and pop it in your mouth. Instant yum.

I am fortunate to know one of our local Sneads Ferry shrimpers, Cindy Davis. She has been working the docks and running the family business for decades. She is also active in North Carolina lobbying for the shrimping industry. I spoke with her this week when buying my pound of heads-off shells-on shrimp. Presently the shrimp from the area’s waters are nearing the end of the spring crop and it is too early for the summer crop. Demand is peaking as vacationers flock to the beaches. The price per pound is over twice what I can get it for come the fall.

Of course, one can get it frozen at Costco for a fraction of the price I am paying. But here is the difference and why I buy it locally:

· I consider supporting the NC shrimping industry a worthy goal. Besides supporting a neighbor’s business, one of the wonders of living on the coast is seeing those big boats canvassing the shoreline with their trawling nets extended or docked with the day’s catch being unloaded.

· I love seeing the local turtles and being able to buy local fish. And though I do not fish, I enjoy watching others out looking for their big catch. Fortunately, current regulations require, and good business practices necessitate, the use of bycatch reduction devices which are strategically placed holes in the nets which allow fish to escape and turtle excluder devices that serve as the turtles’ escape hatches.

· I asked Cindy about the sustainability of the local shrimping crop, learning that shrimp are fast growing and short-lived crustaceans. So, they can be considered an annual crop that replenishes itself.

· When evaluating one’s diet, the protein derived from eating shrimp make it an effective and relatively affordable food. It is also a reliable source of vitamin B12 and is low in saturated fat.

· While shrimp is extremely popular and available frozen in stores and used as exclusively frozen in restaurants, keep in mind that the imported product may not be wild-caught but farm-raised and containing potentially dangerous toxins, and if wild-caught the Asian fishing industry does not have the same stringent by-catch requirements as does the U.S. Then there are the other negative factors for not buying local such as the environmental costs of shipping shrimp from the other side of the world.

· Finally, even though it is sometimes difficult to get totally-fresh shrimp, quick frozen shrimp - that which is caught and quickly iced while at sea on the trawler - is as good as if it was bought fresh given that in many cases the “fresh” is by necessity simply less frozen as it waits to be purchased from the cooler. Either way, it is shrimply delicious.