Coastal Conversations Radio Program: Maine Holiday Seafood Celebrations Past and Present
Coastal Conversations show: December 23, 2022 4-5 PM
WERU 89.9 in Blue Hill and 99.9 in Bangor
Host: Natalie Springuel, Maine Sea Grant
Listen to the show on WERU archives
Today, in honor of the holiday season, our show features “Maine holiday seafood celebrations, past and present.” We are excited to talk with three women from coastal Maine who write about food and history, about Maine and nature, about travel and much more.
Our guests will share ideas for seafood recipes to treat your family and friends over the holidays. They will help us explore how the perceptions of seafood in Maine have changed over the decades and centuries, from the Wabanaki to the New England Colonists, from the mid- 1900’s to the present. From their perspectives as cook and authors, our guests will explore modern day issues such as wild fisheries and aquaculture. And most of all, they will get you excited to experiment with seafood in the kitchen this holiday season.
Guests
Sandy Oliver, food historian, food writer and columnist, from Islesboro in Penobscot Bay
Marnie Reed Crowell, conservationist, natural history writer, poet and scallop cookbook author from Sunset on Deer Isle
Nancy Harmon Jenkins, writer, historian, cook, traveler, and storyteller from Camden
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Books, columns and online materials authored by our guests
- Virgin Territory: Exploring the World of Olive Oil, by Nancy Harmon Jenkins
- The Four Seasons of Pasta, by Nancy Harmon Jenkins and Sara Jenkins
- On the Kitchen Porch, online newsletter by Nancy Harmon Jenkins
- Saltwater Foodways, New Englanders and Their Food at Sea and Ashore in the Nineteenth Century, by Sandy Oliver
- Maine Home Cooking, 175 Recipes from Downeast Maine, by Sandy Oliver based on her weekly column in the Bangor Daily News
- Taste Buds, Bangor Daily News column by Sandy Oliver
- Journal of Island Kitchen, column by Sandy Oliver in Working Waterfront newspaper published by Island Institute
- Recipe Ideas for Farmed Sea Scallops, The Whole Story, by Marsden Brewer and Marnie Reed Crowell
Previous episodes for Coastal Conversations that featured these guests:
- December 25, 2020: Holiday Seafood Recipes and Traditions
- December 25, 2015: Holiday special: Maine Seafood Traditions
Special note on safe preparation of whole scallops
Here in Maine, we are accustomed to eating just the scallop’s adductor muscle, the white meaty part of the animal. There are strict regulations that wild harvested scallops must be shucked at sea with only the adductor muscle brought back to the dock and sold to consumers. This is in order to avoid any risk of biotoxin exposure that may be present in the shucked part of the animal. If you want to experiment with cooking and eating whole scallops, it is absolutely critical to buy them ONLY from a certified dealer whose operations are rigorously monitored.
Listen to the show on WERU archives
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