Johnsonville's The Sausage Dome Champion, Competitive Home Cook (2017 & 2018 World Food Championships Top 5), World Food Championships E.A.T. Certified Food Judge, KCBS Certified BBQ Judge, Tillamook Brand Ambassador, JOI Ambassador, Culinary Researcher, Food & Travel Blogger/Vlogger, and Recipe Developer
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
2016 World Food Championships Blogger Summit Day 2: Field trip
I
awoke to dark, cloudy skies on the second day of our Blogger Summit so I brewed
a strong pot of coffee to begin my day. We all met up in the main tower and I was
glad to see that more people had finally arrived after flight delays and cancellations.
David, Jodi Taffel’s man a.k.a. Mr. Bacon
Babe, and I started talking about coffee and found out we have many things
in common when it comes to the mighty bean – we experiment with different brew
techniques, we grind our beans the same way, etc. The caffeinated conversation
sparked my energy as we boarded the bus to make our way to Bayou La Batre.
Our
first stop was to pick up our friends from Orange
Beach & Gulf Shores Tourism at Sugar Rush Donut Co. and indulge
in some tasty, fluffy, sugar glazed donut holes. These were definitely better
than Krispy Kreme and I just wanted more along with a cup of coffee!!!
Bayou La Batre, a.k.a. “Seafood
Capital of Alabama”, is in Mobile County. It is a fishing village and harbor
for fishing and shrimp boats along with seafood processors. Bayou La Batre has
also graced the Silver Screen in movies like Forrest Gump (You remember that montage when Bubba says, “Shrimp is
the food of the sea. You can barbeque it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it…”)
and even the Black Pearl ship from the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was secretly
built here. Bayou La Batre has overcome great adversity and been rebuilt since
the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 submerged this village under 16
feet of water.
Our
first stop was Sandy Bay Oyster Company, producers of Murder Point Oysters, “Oysters
worth killing for”. They are a 5th generation, family-owned business
which started out catching shrimp and fish and now raises oysters. Their love
and passion for the natural bounty of the Gulf of Mexico crafts a beautiful end
product for the consumer. Murder Point Oysters are hand-crafted, raised with
love, have a rich, creamy, and buttery flavor, and are 2.75” to 3” when
harvested. Their name comes from an actual killing that happened in 1930, when
on oysterman killed another over an oyster lease dispute. Sounds like a plot
for a murder mystery novel! But, nothing is better than a fresh oyster on the
half shell harvested straight from the water in front of you, even at 9am in
the morning!
Our
second stop was Olympic Shellfish
Products. A 2nd generation, family-owned business that started
out in the shrimp business but now focuses on blue crab with products like jumbo
lump, regular lump, claw meat, and clawfingers. The processing is done by
families of Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian descent. The large influx of
immigrants and refugees arrived following the Vietnam War. We watched the gals
(from grandmas to their young adult grandchildren) processing crabs, making it
look so easy by taking all the meat out of these little blue crabs. I was a
lucky one who got to have a fresh clawfinger right after shelling. The meat is
so sweet and just tastes of the sea.
Our
third stop was Graham Shrimp Company.
A 3rd generation, family-owned business that started out selling
crab meat and is now running full steam ahead to become one of the largest processors
for IQF, head-on, wild-caught Gulf shrimp. We saw one of their eight boats
docked outside of the processing facility and then ventured into the sorting
room where the shrimp are sorted by size, flash frozen, and packed for shipment
all across the United States. There is nothing quite like the aroma of fresh
seafood, like a sweet sea breeze, so you know it is ultra-fresh.
The Organized Seafood Association of
Alabama (OSAA) treated us to an old-fashioned Bayou boil so we could “Eat
Alabama Wild Seafood”. We saw our friends from Sandy Bay Oyster Company,
Olympic Shellfish Products, and Graham Shrimp Company showcasing how they
prepare their seafood.
The
fixin’s included, peel & eat shrimp, marinated clawfingers, oysters on the
half shell, popcorn shrimp, potato salad, coleslaw, fresh green salad, corn on
the cobb, sausage, potatoes, and banana pudding. This had to be the BEST meal I’ve
had in Alabama! Bayou La Batre really knows how to eat!!!
Just
when we thought we were full, we got back on the bus and we headed back to Gulf
Shores to visit Lucy Buffett’s
LuLu’s at Homeport Marina. A foodie’s life is always about the food. While
eating more seafood, we were treated to a presentation on Fish Trax Marketplace, where you
can scan a QR Code that comes with your entrée to find out where that fish was
caught, who caught it, and where it was processed. We could also tour the
Alleluia, part of the Ariel Seafood Fleet. This boat can fish for four days and
haul 8,000 pounds of fish.
We
started with an amuse bouche of fried green tomato topped with crab salad.
The
rest of the meal was served family-style starting with some sautéed seasonal
vegetables…
And
some fried potatoes, reminiscent of country potatoes without the bell peppers
and onions.
A
sampler of fresh Gulf Red Snapper – grilled, blackened, and fried. I have never
had red snapper like this before. The ones we have in the grocery store on the
West Coast are thin fillets with a crumbly texture. The Gulf Red Snapper is
thicker and succulent. The texture is fluffy like crab meat. Alabama, you have
me hooked on your seafood!
I
think I am still in a seafood coma from all of that deliciously succulent
seafood we had in Bayou La Batre and Gulf Shores. It is surely haunting my
dreams, even now. With Day 2 coming to an end, it is time to wash some laundry
(while I have access to a washer and dryer as my stay in Orange Beach will be
10 days total), pack up for the move to my new accommodations in Gulf Shores,
and get some shut eye. We still have one more day of the Blogger Summit!
Love how you documented our adventures! Michael Sewell would be proud of your photography. And thanks for the shout out to my honey. I was mighty happy when he finally arrived!
You know me, I try to document everything! Thanks for the compliments on the photography. I wish I was just an ounce of Michael's photography flair. I know you were worried about him and got to know a little bit more about David. You're a lucky gal!
Love how you documented our adventures! Michael Sewell would be proud of your photography. And thanks for the shout out to my honey. I was mighty happy when he finally arrived!
ReplyDeleteYou know me, I try to document everything! Thanks for the compliments on the photography. I wish I was just an ounce of Michael's photography flair. I know you were worried about him and got to know a little bit more about David. You're a lucky gal!
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