The Nibble - Top Pick of the Week

Sullivan Harbor Farm: Smokin' Shrimp and Scallops

CAPSULE REPORT: How could it be that we have lived this many decades without the joys of smoked shrimp and scallops?

Smoked fish we’ve had aplenty: black cod (sablefish), chub (carp), salmon, sturgeon, trout, whitefish. But our smoked shellfish experience has been limited to imported cans of smoked mussels and clams. We employed them in various hors d’oeuvres, dips and dishes and concluded that what we’d bought was the smoked shellfish equivalent of supermarket canned tuna.

Sullivan Harbor Farm does away with those memories, bringing an “I must have more!” allure to smoked shrimp and scallops (and also to smoked salmon). The smoked shrimp and smoked scallops add big personality to recipes, not to mention wowing the cocktail crowd as nibbles in various forms (dips, hors d’oeuvres, canapés or straight from the toothpick). If you love shrimp, scallops and smoked foods, you’ve got to try them!

The products are all natural: no preservatives, chemicals or colorings are used. Made in small batches using old world techniques—including outdoor smokers. Read the full review below to see how we’ve used these smoky protein treats.

Sullivan Harbor Farms Overview

When Joel Frantzman decided to produce the best smoked fish, he attended a preeminent smoking course in Aberdeen, Scotland. He visited a number of small, high-end Scottish smoke houses that produce the best smoked salmon and other fish. He then returned home to Hancock Village, Maine, armed with the knowledge and determination to make his mark on the smoked fish marketplace. He has succeeded!

Smoking fish and seafood in small batches, using old world methods and “fanatical attention to detail,” Sullivan Harbor Farms sells superior smoked fish products. It’s not just because the smoked salmon is special (it’s lovely with a deeper smoke than most), because one can usually find a decent supply of that popular food in major cities.

It’s the other treats, including smoked shrimp and smoked scallops, that add up to major excitement for food lovers seeking new flavors and experiences. The seafood are dry cured and smoked in small kilns with natural hardwood smoke in a state-of-the-art facility. Time-honored techniques meet the best in modern equipment, and you’ll taste it!

The day boat scallops come from Digby Neck in Nova Scotia, Canada, and the small, sweet shrimp from the Gulf of Maine. All of the salmon comes from Ocean Legacy, a small salmon farm in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia. Clear bay water propelled by 25 foot tides sluice through the salmon pens, enabling the growth of muscular fish without the need for hormones. Low fish density (uncrowded pens) mean no antibiotics. The result: healthy fish particularly high in Omega 3s.

Locally farmed salmon were once Maine’s top seafood export after lobster. The cost of environmental monitoring and other issues caused the industry to decline over the past decade. But a handful of artisan seafood smokehouses exist, and are now getting farmed Atlantic salmon from Maine’s neighbor to the northeast, Nova Scotia.

Concerned about the carbon footprint of your food? Buy smoked salmon from Maine.

• Sullivan Harbor Farm location to the Bay Of Fundy: 65 miles
• Alaskan salmon to the East Coast: 6,000 miles
• Chilean salmon to the East Coast: 8,000 miles
• Norwegian salmon to the East Coast: 4,000 miles

The geography lesson is over; the eating lesson begins. Head to Page 2 see how to serve these smoked crustaceans.

Using Sullivan Harbor Farms Smoked Seafood

What can’t you do with these smoky bites?

• On skewers with grape tomatoes and fresh basil leaves
• In deviled eggs (the 1" shrimp are just the right size)
• On a party bread, baguette slice or cracker with lemon mayonnaise (see Lemonaise another Top Pick Of The Week)

Use smoked seafood to add new dimension to:

• Green salads—as a flavor accent
• Omelets
• Pasta - with fresh basil—and pasta salad
• Pizza - ditto the basil
• Risotto
• Smoked seafood salad for hors d'oeuvres, sandwiches, wraps and sushi rolls

A bit of smokiness is a change-of-pace accent to garnish:

• Seafood dishes—from plain grilled fish to more complex recipes
• Soups
• Steaks and chops - create a "surf and turf"

Smoked Salmon

The smokehouse produces only one style of smoked salmon. This is no delicate Scottish smoked salmon or even a “Nova Scotia style” favored by New Yorkers. You smell and taste the smoke in a very pleasant way—in the Norwegian smokier style.

You can watch a slide show on the company website that shows the entire process of how smoked salmon goes from ocean to plate.

There’s also an explanation of wild versus farmed salmon, “How Green Is Your Salmon?” and the benefits of farm-raised salmon, which provide more information to those trying to figure out the issues.

How good is Sulllivan Harbor’s smoked salmon? Silky and seductive, we’d be embarrassed to tell you how quickly we dispatched an entire pound of it.

Learn To Smoke Fish... & The Difference Between An Hors d’Oeuvre & A Canapé

Hors D’Oeuvres & Canapés

What’s the difference between an hors d’oeuvre and a canapé? An appetizer and an amuse bouche?

Hors d’oeuvre: (Pronounced or-DERV) A small bite of food that comes before the main course. It is often served with cocktails, but several pieces can be plated to serve as a first course. Technically, the term refers to small, individual food items that have been prepared by a cook. Thus, a cheese plate is not an hors d’oeuvre, nor is a crudité tray with dip, even though someone has cut the vegetables and made the dip. The term means “[dishes] outside the work [main meal].” In French, the term “hors d’oeuvre” is used to indicate both the singular and plural forms; however, the plural is often spoken and written as “hors d’oeuvres.” There are many hundreds of different hors d’oeuvres; each cuisine has its specialty. Examples of popular hors d’oeuvres include arancini (ah-rohn-CHEE-NEE, fried risotto balls), bacon-wrapped scallops and Asian dumplings.

Canapé: (Pronounced can-uh-PAY) A specific type of hors d’oeuvre that is prepared on a slice of bread or cracker or other base (e.g. stuffed mushroom). The components are: the base, the main element (beef, seafood, egg, ham, smoked vegetable, etc.) and a garnish.

Appetizer: A small serving of food served as a first course. It can be the same type of food that could be served as an entrée or a side dish, but in smaller serving (e.g., a half-size portion of gnocchi). Or it could be something not served as a main dish, such as smoked salmon with capers.

Amuse-bouche: (Pronounced ah-MEEZ boosh) French for “amusing the mouth,” this is an hors d’oeuvre-size portion plated in a tiny dish, sent as a gift from the chef after the order has been placed, but before the food arrives. It is brought after the wine is poured. It is just one bite: a larger portion would constitute an appetizer. Amuses-bouches tend to be complex in both flavors and garniture, and enable the chef to show creativity. The restaurant can change the “gift” daily, depending on what is in the market (or what the chef did not use the day before).

Learn To Smoke Salmon

Want to smoke your own?

Sullivan Harbor Farm offers training courses for connoisseurs who want to make and package their own smoke and cured fish.

The intensive, hands-on program modeled after the famous Aberdeen Scotland course and held at Sullivan Harbor Farm’s state-of-the-art facility in lovely Hancock, Maine.

The program includes six nights lodging and recreational facilities for $1,750.

Whether you make it or buy it, get smoking!