Fun Playing With Fish in New York

We began playing with New York food in earnest on April 11. The first order of business was shopping - Makinajian Farms for soup chickens and eggs, then Stop and Shop for groceries. But the fish and seafood were among the highlights of our trip.

Our last stop Friday was Northport Fish & Lobster, set in an old shack on Route 25A in Northport. I'd never been there, but my parents had heard good things and wanted to try them. Northport Fish is a locally owned full service fishmonger. No fewer than four locally sourced fishes were available that day, plus many seafood options. We picked up our Gefilte Fish bag, and couldn't resist buying some lunch items also. Mom had ordered 5# of ground fish (whitefish, pike and carp) with onion, plus the heads and skeletons. For our Gefilte Fish recipe, please look here.

It all looked so good! Mom had requested that we get her one of their advertised $5 Lobster Rolls, but what else would make for a quick and easy lunch?

Fresh Montauk Flounder, Fried to Order

This fish was so pristine it took my breath away. Delicious and perfectly cooked!

Lobster Roll

Ok, I saw the kvetching on Yelp about this. There is real lobster in the mix. There is also a lot of mayo. There may be some filler fish. But for $5, it was plentiful and tasty so what's not to like? I'd probably pick something else, but I wouldn't complain, either.

Clam-Stuffed Garlic Bread

I don't think I've ever nibbled such soft and tender clam meat as the morsels generously stuffed into this garlicky bread (same roll as the lobster was stuffed into). These are sold needing to be baked down for about 15 minutes at 350. The clams were so tender and fresh that they maintained deliciousness two days later after being re-heated as leftovers. It was a little too oily when hot, but oh-so-tasty!

Fish Mix - A Tad Under-ground

I took this photo to document how gefilte fish mixture should not look. It needed to either be passed through the grinder again or ground with a finer die (the onions were still in a dice, also). Fortunately, I'd brought my food processor, so it took only a few minutes to correct the texture.

Gefilte Fish

And here's the final product, served up at our Seders Monday and Tuesday nights with garden horseradish. Absolutely delicious!

But there was more fish to savor! Our favorite local purveyor of smoked fish, Bagel Boss would close for Passover early on Monday, so Dad made a fish and bialy run on Sunday to hold us until it was time to burn the Chometz (or otherwise get rid of the bread). There is nothing like Jewish Soul Food!

Bialy with Bagel Boss Cream Cheese,
Belly Lox
Baked Salmon (Kippered Salmon)

Baked (or Kippered) Salmon

Loaded with the proper sustenance, we went to work on playing with food for the Seders!

Fun Playing With Jewish Soul Food, Part 1

My Uncle Jerry coined the phrase "Jewish Soul Food" to describe a bagel with lox - and he is right. When pristine Belly Lox and fresh New York Bagels (or bialys) are involved - it is a true delight for the senses - from the eyes, to the palate, to the olfactory.

When I was growing up in the 1970s, there was only one kind of lox: Belly Lox. There was another smoked fish that was sometimes served (especially to older folks who had to "watch their salt") called "Novie." But Novie was Novie and Lox was Lox.

Then, sometime in the late 70's-early 80's - Lox began to disappear. People (and restaurants) began to refer to Novie (or "Nova") as Lox. More than once, my dad would have to return to the deli to exchange a package of lox because even though he'd specified "belly" - they'd given him nova. And in our book - nova is simply flavorless.

I've almost given up on getting Belly Lox in Cleveland. Mr. Brisket will get it special, if I can arrange for a large enough order. But at $40 a pound, or thereabouts, it is a rare treat indeed.

I know it is costing $40 a pound, because we bought some for our last meal in NY last week, at the venerable chain purveyor Bagel Boss (alas - Delray Caterers in East Northport is long gone). But, oh, how sweet it was!





Note the exquisitely thin slices and deep red color. It took the deli man (and the youngsters working the front had to bring in the big man from the back to slice the fish) quite a while to slice up this half pound.



Is there a more beautiful thing than fresh Belly Lox perched atop fresh Temp-tee Whipped Cream Cheese on a freshly baked Onion Bialy?





And a large glass of cold milk to wash it down!