By Amy Huggins
Is it finally hip to be a sustainer? If the answer can be based on recent environmental trends, the answer is definitely yes.
It wasn’t long ago when the sustainability efforts of many our community leaders would have branded them as tree huggers, hippies or granolas. Somewhere along the line, though, it became hip to be a sustainer. Sustainability became cool. Sustainability matters.
So how easy is it to become a sustainer? Very.
Sustainability is alive and well on the Outer Banks and is a key topic for several local culinary arts groups. If you are a sustainer, or ever dreamed of becoming a sustainer, one of the best and easiest places to practice is at your next meal.
If you cook, incorporating local seasonal, regional ingredients is a delicious place to begin. Still not sure where to begin?
Let’s start by looking at how our food choices affect sustainability. The current leaders in food philosophy, the Slow Food movement offer reasonable suggestions for lifestyle incorporation. What exactly is Slow Food? Does it mean that it took hours or even days to cook? Well, it could, but Slow Food is actually, just as it sounds, the opposite of fast food - with an emphasis on sustainability.
The Slow Food movement is more than a plan for eating; it involves consciously living a lifestyle that embraces sustainability.
According to the Outer Banks Slow Food website, “Slow Food is the pleasure of eating traditional foods, traditionally prepared, and celebrating the cultural and biological diversity of those foods. Slow Food is the antithesis of Fast Food - it is fresh, not processed; it is from your local merchants, fishermen, and farmers, not from the giant food chains and industrial growers.”
Coined by Italian food journalist Carlo Petrini, the phrase Slow Food was first used when he was protesting McDonald’s attempts to have a restaurant in Rome. While unsuccessful, the name Slow Food became much more than a phrase. It became the name of an entire movement based on sustainability of indigenous food sources.
The Slow Food movement also promotes public awareness about issues concerning the fast food and processed food industries and their effects on the health of the public as well as the health of the planet.
Outer Bankers are riding the Slow Food wave. The local chapter, called a convivium, currently has over 60 members. Local convivium President Anne Parsons organized the local group in 2004 after moving here from the Washington D.C. area.
“Our goal was to form a group of like minded people to share the philosophies of the Slow Food movement,” says Parsons, “I think we have exceeded many of our goals.”
“I am most proud of the scholarship we are now able to give annually to a student who wishes to further his or her training in the culinary arts – whether in the kitchen or working with sustainable food sources, says Parsons, “and we do hope they will return to the Outer Banks!”
The Outer Banks has always had a tradition of Slow Food. Mostly, we have called it fishing. Both an industry and a recreational activity, fishing (and crabbing and shrimping and clamming) has been a way of life for both locals and visitors for hundreds of years. A bountiful source of food, the Outer Banks is also an important player in the international aquaculture market. If not sustained, however, this might not always be the case.
As evidenced by responses received by community leader Lynn Foster of the Albatross Fleet in Hatteras who organizes an annual autumn tribute to Hatteras Waterman called A Day at the Docks, there is a need for awareness about the plight of our local fishing industry. In simplest terms, our food heritage is at risk.
Once a thriving local industry, fisherpeople are dwindling in numbers. Policies intended to help the industry have made fishing more cost prohibitive. Overfishing, environmental concerns, the cost of fuel and the dredging (or lack of dredging) of Oregon Inlet have also become greater threats to this way of life. Even the cost of housing on the Outer Banks threatens the industry.
Says Foster, “Sustainability is our goal.”
Foster and her group have raised awareness of the risk of losing one of the Outer Banks most vital resources and is excited about global communities meeting together at events like Slow Fish, sponsored by Slow Foods International. “The Slow Food movement is based on preserving industries just like ours,” she contends, “basic principles like worker safety, fair compensation and environmentally safe operations are all important issues to people who work on the water.”
“Maybe someday we will hold the international Slow Fish celebration here,” Foster says optimistically, “What an opportunity to share our history and explore trends with other communities similar to ours!”
She reminds hip sustainers to buy seafood locally. “Keeping the money in our economy is important – we need to support our neighbors. You can have a great meal and support the community at the same time.”
If you don’t cook and aren’t quite ready to try a local cooking class, you can maintain your sustainer status by dining out.
The Dare County Restaurant Association also promotes sustainability and at monthly meetings, members discuss best practices and encourage chefs and owners in their sustainability efforts. Most independent restaurant menus showcase fresh, local, seasonal ingredients. While not exactly a species, Oregon Inlet Tuna is one of the most popular dishes at Owens Restaurant in Nags Head.
A great local chef or purveyor, like Coastal Provisions Market in Southern Shores, can become a hip sustainer’s best contact. Imagine the introductions to regional food sources! Yes, being a sustainer is pretty cool.
You can learn from the pros, too. Bryan Ellis, owner of Meridian 42 Restaurant, also in Southern Shores, and a member of the Outer Banks Slow Food Convivium offers a food + wine pairing class one night a month in association with Outer Banks Epicurean, a local business specializing in culinary adventures and the Dare County Arts Council.
Local ingredients are always on the top of partner Chef Chuck Arnold’s menu that night and every night. “Helping pair the producer and the consumer is one of the goals of the Slow Food movement,” says Ellis, “and when food professionals can work together to make it happen, everyone wins. The food and wine pairing event allows some of the flavors of the local ingredients to really be accentuated.”
So, are you ready to sustain? Here are some recipes that highlight local ingredients. Add a few staples from the pantry and you have a delicious sustainable Outer Banks meal. These easy, crowd-pleasing recipes should feed 6 people - enough for you to start our own sustainable supper club.
And when you set the table, don’t forget that sustainers also incorporate tablescapes into their mission. When you support the arts, you are sustaining! Silverware – handcrafted by local silversmiths, textiles by local fiber artists, blown glass water goblets, hand-painted wine glasses, fused glass plates, kiln-fired pot de crème pots, hand-thrown mugs, handcrafted candles and raku vases filled with wildflowers….
No wonder sustainability got hip.
RECIPES
Remember, don’t get caught up in using the exact ingredients, substitutions are ok.
Currituck Corn and Colington Crab Chowder
Recipes courtesy of Rob Mitchell, Blue Water Culinary Services
¼ cup corn oil
2 chopped shallots (or ¼ diced onion)
7 ears of corn, kernels shaved off
¼ cup diced celery
1/8 cup flour
1 pint of cream
4 cups of crab stock
1 tbsp. roasted garlic chopped
s&p
1 pound of picked local crab meat
Heat Oil in large pot on medium high heat. Add shallots and celery, sauté until softened. Add corn kernels and sauté until softened. Sprinkle in flour and stir until incorporated. Slowly add small amounts of stock, stirring each addition until incorporated before adding the next amount. Stir in Roasted Garlic and cream. Simmer on low for 20-30 minutes, do not boil.
When ready to serve stir in crabmeat and gently heat. Garnish with chopped chives.
Crab Stock
Par steamed rough chopped cleaned blue crabs (top shell removed along with “dead men” and innards)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups water
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
2 ribs celery, coarsely chopped with a few leaves
1 medium onion (about 8 ounces), coarsely chopped
1-2 bay leaves
Black peppercorns
Method:
Heat oil on high in a large pot. Add crabs and stir around immediately crushing as much as possible until all are bright red. Add onion, celery, tomato paste and herbs. Stir and let aroma from the herbs begin to rise.
Add water to deglaze and bring to simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes.
Strain. Freezes well.
Fresh Tuna with Lemon Caper Sauce
6 tablespoons butter
1 - 2 small clove garlic, finely minced
¼ c. fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons capers + 2 tablespoons juice
olive oil
6 fresh tuna filets - each about 8 oz.
salt and pepper
PanSeared:
Lightly rub both sides of the tuna steaks with olive oil, salt & pepper and half the lime juice.
Using a heavy bottomed sauté pan or a cast-iron pan, warm the olive oil. Increase the heat to high and place the tuna in the pan. Sear for 1 minute, then turn over carefully, reducing the heat to medium. Sear the other side for 1 more minute until medium rare. (Do not overcook the tuna or the meat will become dry and lose its flavor.)
Sauce:
Remove tuna and add garlic to medium hot skillet. Quickly add lemon juice, caper juice and capers - scrape the bottom of the skillet for the good stuff.
Remove from heat. Swirl in butter. Serve over tuna.
Broiled:
Heat broiler. Oil or spray the rack of a broiler pan and place in the oven.
Rub olive oil over the tuna steaks; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange tuna on the hot prepared pan. Broil about 6 inches from heat for 4 to 6 minutes, turning carefully about halfway through the cooking time. The tuna steaks should still be somewhat pink in the middle, depending on how you like your fresh tuna done. Be prepared for the fish to continue to cook after removed from the pan. Drizzle warmed lemon caper sauce over the tuna steaks before serving.
Sauce:
In a small skillet over low heat, melt butter; add garlic, lemon juice, zest, and capers. Simmer for 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Serves 6.
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