So last weekend, I returned to Nantucket for a brief visit to work on some business stuff with my former supervisor.
I have never been to Nantucket during the winter. Granted it has been a strange winter this year and I was expecting some snow on the ground; but it was absolute perfect: sunny, cold, the weather was gorgeous and without any tourists around, it was peaceful on the island.
One of the things that Nantucket is known for, in terms of food, are its Bay Scallops. I should know; I did research them on this past summer.
Nantucket Bay Scallops are one of the last wild and un-managed populations of scallops on the U.S. Atlantic Coast. Elsewhere, scallops have succumbed to aquaculture and the actions of the fishery industry. The fact that almost any Nantucket dish of scallops you get are wild, meaning harvested straight from the water, makes a huge difference in terms of taste.
They are just so much sweeter and darn delicious. Once you have Nantucket Bay Scallops, you will never want any other. They even say that President Obama favors scallops only from Nantucket and so do I.
When I was on Nantucket during the summer doing research on them, I just kept craving for them. But during the summer, the scallops were still small and growing. October to March is the prime season for harvesting them out in Nantucket harbor and boy, they are worth the wait.
While on island, a party of us went to Fusaro's, a fairly new Italian restaurant on the island, for dinner. They were serving lightly breaded Nantucket Bay scallops along with smelt, calamari, and shrimp served over a bed of arugula as an appetizer special. Oh mygosh I just wanted a big plate of this.
After that, I just kept saying to my friend who was accompanying on this trip, "This is worth the wait. This is one of the reasons why I studied bay scallops this summer. MMMM Yummmm." and then I couldnt talk anymore.
I definitely want to try these scallops raw and straight from the harbor.
I just want to add the research aspect of it all though. The commercial harvesting of bay scallops is an important source of income for Nantucket, MA, adding $1 - $3 million to the winter economy. Maintaining a healthy population of bay scallops around Nantucket has a significant practical impact on the island economy. However, since the 1980s, the harvest has declined significantly.
One of the things I am working on is how to bring back this population to bring back the Nantucket bay scallops so that everyone can experience this great and delicious delicacy. However because of this damn economy it's been hard to get research funding so its been tough sometimes to continue on with the research.
But I babble on about non-food related things.
FACT: Nantucket Bay Scallops are the best. Nothing can compare.
