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October 27, 1994 - When It's Harvest Time in the SeaGA • The Suffolk Times • October 27, 1994 Photos by Paul Stoutenburgh BEFORE AND AFTER —These pictures taken before stripers had to be 36 inches long show the results of an East End meal of baked striper. When It's Harvest Time in the Sea By Paul Stoutenburgh We usually think of harvest time in reference to pumpkins, squash, cauliflower and a long line of vegeta- bles that come into fruition at this time of the year. Few think of this time in reference to the harvest of marine spoils that come from the waters around our East End, but there is a plentiful supply of these treasures of the sea starting with the snappers that we wait all sum- mer to late August to catch and enjoy. Many find these small bluefish too much trouble to eat with their small size and fine bones to make it worthwhile, but to those who know the anatomy of fish, it's no problem at all. Fried crisp and brown I can eat eight or 10 of them with room for more. Of course, around this time of the year, the big brothers of the snappers are running in the Gut and off the Sound beaches and so we're continually catch- ing or being given the big blues that are good baked, filleted and broiled, or just fried. Better yet — smoked. We just had an eight -pound bluefish that Barbara stuffed and baked in swimming position with the stuffing underneath. The scales and skin were left on and when it was cooked the whole armor could be lifted off skin, scales and all, the top fins and bones leaving a wondrous steaming platter before us. There was so much of it we had leftovers, which will be made into fish cakes and salad for later. Last week in this column I mentioned the wonders of scallops and so I don't have to dwell too much about these lus- cious bits of seafood except to say be- sides the favorite fried scallops, Barbara makes a terrific casserole of crackers and milk and some secret seasoning that ranks high on my list for eating. The scallops were so big she cut them into small pieces that worked out well throughout the dish, making it actually more flavorful. By the way, have any of you eaten raw scallops? They are ter- rific. Try them with sauce or without. Nice, Big Stripers Stripers, they tell me, are all over the Gut and Race out east. The best time to get them, my son Peter says, is at night and his 38- to 40 -inch keeper was proof of that. Today with the limit of one per person and at least 36 inches long seems like a good state rule to me. Filleted it gives you quite a chunk of meat. Here again we leave the skin and scales on to Focus on Nature hold the chunks together or, if you prefer, it can be taken off and the fillet broiled or baked. Or again, smoked. These stripers that turn up at this time of the year are a specialty to our East End. Of course, if you are the adventurous type, stripers can be had by diving and spearing them under water. Tim, a good friend of ours and a powerful swimmer, always seems to find the big ones when the top fishermen can't seem to locate any at all. While he and Peter were down there the other day they got black - fish also that seem to come in at this time of the year around the rocks. Fish- ing for them with crabs is the usual way but no matter how a blackfish is brought home, it's one of the top fish in my estimation as far as eating goes. A lot of the fish are two- and three - pounders, which makes a nice fillet for frying, but the best use of the big black - fish is in fish chowder. The meat is firmer and makes one of Barbara's specialties a real delight. For years she used to feed the returning members of our Orient Christmas Bird Count fish chowder and I think when many of them look back to those counts the thing they remember most is the chowder. Old -Time Tradition Getting away from the big fish and back into our creeks, we harvest eels, crabs and fish each fall that either get smoked or frozen for later use. Firelighting, the use of lights to see the eels and crabs, is an old tradition that goes back to the days of the Indians when they would use burning torches and stalk the shallow waters for the goodies in our creeks. It's not all that easy and you have to have the right gear to make it work, but because it is the time of the year when eels and crabs come into the muddy creek bottoms to sleep away the winter they become most available to us. We had three nice crab feasts in the first two weeks in October, but as soon as the water gets colder the eels and crabs will disappear. A pot of red, steaming, blue -claw crabs on a table spread with newspapers along with ■ _il.� * �'Mlkim mmllk�v= 82 Years Ago Oct. 26, 1912 Candidate Makes Favorable Impression: Job E. Hughes, the Republican candidate for governor, made a sweep through Long Island last week, arriving in Greenport Friday afternoon. The auditorium was well filled with an audience that listened closely to the brilliant speak- er. Mr. Hughes made a very favorable impression. Taft Defends Policies: President Taft discusses the issues of the present campaign in the Saturday Evening Post. He takes his stand squarely on the issue that with him rested the responsibility of maintaining the high standard set up in the records of his party and of carrying out those policies of his predecessors which he declares have made good government and Republicanism synonymous. 50 Years Ago Oct. 27, 1944 World Telephone Total Nears 50 Million: The worldwide total of telephones is about 49,742,500, according to the latest available statistics and estimates announced by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. The United States had 26, 381,000 telephones as of January 1. With 19.3 telephones for every 100 persons in its population, the United States is considerably ahead of nutcrackers to break the claws is just about all you need for a meal. Some like melted butter to dip their crab meat in but I find them so rich that I can do without it. Some sizzly drink is nice to have, be it soda or beer. The year seems to be an especially good year for white perch. Many don't even know we have white perch in our creeks, but some nice -sized ones were brought in by my son, Roger, when they were out spearing eels. I smoked them skin, head and all after cleaning them and their yellow -brown coating gave them a smoky, gold look. Another thing people don't realize is that in our creeks there are mantis shrimp. Roger brought me some of those, which I cooked with all the crabs, and they were the sweetest meat I've ever tasted, but one would need quite a few to make a meal. These, too, hibernate in the mud. I'm sure I've left out something that our sea has provided us with at this time of the year, but what I've listed above gives you an idea of what the sea as well as the land can bring forth in a fall harvest for all to enjoy. any other country in this measure of development. Soldiers To Receive Gifts: The Burton Potter Post, American Legion, voted to cooperate in every way possible in the campaign to provide a Christmas box for every hospitalized wounded and sick serviceman and woman in the United States. Christmas boxes are sought instead of individual gifts. This is necessary because the task of sorting individual items and boxing them presents too great a problem of time, personnel, boxes, wrapping paper and other items which would have to be provided. 25 Years Ago Oct. 31, 1969 Orient Auxiliary Donates $500: A $500 dona- tion towards the projected Coronary- Intensive Care Unity at Eastern Long Island Hospital was unanimously voted at the annual meeting of the East Marion -Orient Hospital Auxil- iary branch. Policing Halloween: An extra number of Southold Town Police will be on duty tonight, Halloween night, to protect the younger children in their Halloween activities and to combat any vandalism, according to an announce- ment made by Chief Carl Cataldo. The officers are not on duty to restrict Halloween fun, but to curb those youngsters who feel that Halloween is an excuse for destruction.