Hungry Mother hosts Shrimp and Sazeracs evening

February 15, 5:30 AMBoston Food ExaminerJacqueline Church

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Shrimp & Sazeracs @ Hungry Mother, jchurch

Shrimp and Grits and Sazeracs

Southern hospitality in Boston. Shrimp and Grits are one of the iconic dishes of the South that Hungry Mother has been introducing us to, one savory mouthful at a time. It's a wonderful dish balancing the juicy spicy steamed shrimp with the creamy grits (think polenta) that makes people salivate at the mere mention.

Sazeracs are the official cocktail of the city of New Orleans. Rye, bitters and Herbsaint or absinthe combine to make a drink almost as famous as Mardi Gras. Tabasco martinis were also in circulation. Later, a true "shrimp boil" was served (see photo) and polite chatter was punctuated with peeling shrimp and sucking fingers.

Ray & Kay Brandhurst of Four Winds Seafood provide the shrimp directly to Hungry Mother in the kind of direct relationship the Chefs Collaborative and others hope will become more common. Too often, when purveyors, processors and distributors get involved we get added cost and attenuated relationships between source and consumer.

True traceability and accountability gets muddied and marketing spin replaces face-to-face contact with guys like Ray. When you're buying shrimp especially, you want to have that handshake and eye contact. You need to know that the actual shrimper is benefitting from the sale. People like Ray & Kay added equipment to reduce by-catch (one of the ecosystem-destroying problems with many commercial shrimp operations) before Katrina.

Accountability, Traceability and Sustainability

Their nets don't drag the bottom of the gulf so habitat destruction is quite low. Unlike many imported shrimp which come to us courtesy of habitat destruction and unsound economic practices, these people make their livelihood off their shrimp business. You need not worry that a purveyor has purchased toxin-laden product off poor Asian or Mexican producers with no regard to environment. Many foreign shrimp are farmed at the expense of mangroves that protect the shore like barrier islands. Unscrupulous farmers dump waste and once nothing else can be farmed productively, they move on to another coastal village, taking the jobs with them and leaving behind ruined habitat.

When talking about sustainability, we usually are focused on the viability of a particular resource. Sustainability can also be used to discuss the environmental or the social aspects of food production. In the case of shrimp, all are heavily and negatively impacted in many (most?) overseas shrimp operations.
 

• To learn more about shrimp and sustainabilty, especially with regard to imported product, see the Mangrove Action Project and learn about the Seattle chefs boycotting the onerous imports.
   
• To have some delicious shrimp and grits you can enjoy guilt-free, visit Hungry Mother or order your own delivery directly from Four Winds.