The USA's Most EXTREME Seafood!! From Maine to Miami!

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right here in this series we're taking on sea food on the USA's East Coast all the way from Maine to Miami that is just a moment of perfection we can have more moments I can have more moments all you can eat buffet it's raining and I don't even care we run out we'll just go get more but before that let's back up the USA's East Coast consists of over 2,000 M of Shoreline from the Canadian border to the southern tip of Florida here you'll find some of this country's most precious Treasures of the deep this is the biggest pum frit I've ever seen in my life aquatic gems that fishermen work tirelessly to bring in no matter the time no matter the weather and no matter how seasick they may get my camera guy he threw up today can we show that really quick from the ocean this Seafood changes hands to chefs around the country yeah chefs who take on the challenge of preparing what can be an incredibly rewarding type of food for you running this in fine dining restaurant what is the biggest challenge in sourcing good quality seafood but also an ingredient that if not prepared properly can lead to Absolute disaster every year there are some casualties some people die from eating oysters I assume that are raw there was one I think in Virginia last year BJ yes sir good morning good morning good morning from the home-cooked meals of the gulla on St Helena Island the shrimp here it's just distinct man I've tasted shrimp from the Gulf up to Florida Keys but these are special man to impressively expensive fine dining at a two Michelin star resta restaurant in Manhattan Somebody went in the water and picked these by hand they could have died they probably did anything underwater you can't breathe absolutely in this series I'm on a mission to reveal how the USA's top seafood is sourced I think we're in luck oh my God that's huge and how it gets to its final destination on your dinner table we got a real nice keeper here but this is a large Lobster about a two- pounder it's going to be delicious like main lobster trapped in cages by hardworking lobstermen on deats oh my god wow this one's amazing each year these Waters just off the coast of Maine bring in over 100 million lb of lobster that's then shipped around the country you separate the good and bad lobsters correct and around the world how do you tell the difference between a good lobster and a bad Lobster so are you looking for tattoos yeah it's a terrible joke in Main's Capital that sweet ocean meat is put to use in chill lobster rolls would you say that's a whole lobster in there yeah it's a meat from just about a one PB Lobster in each roll there's like so much meat on here there so many claws should we try it out oh yeah let's go for it there are the Blue Crabs famous in Maryland another good one look at these crabs here crabbers check hundreds of pots hoping to cash in with this valuable crustation oh my God this thing is gigantic holy cow there's a correct way to hold them look at this D no the meat can be tediously plucked out by professional Pickers then stuffed inside meaty crab cakes we're going to flip or if you're feeling more adventurous soft shell crabs can be fried up and eaten whole it has that leathery feel to the outside it's flexible it's very disconcerting it's got legs it's got legs in Virginia rather than hunting down creatures of the deep Farmers have perfected the craft of cultivating oysters yeah this multi-year process means oyster seeds go from looking like this to eventually growing to this plus-sized oysters plus-sized body positivity oysters finally ending up at a restaurant near you cooked up in ways you couldn't imagine tell them how many oysters we serve every year 307,000 oysters wow it's almost one per every person living in the city of Richmond and maybe a couple people had two and then there's Florida a paradise for all things Seafood did they get much bigger than this twice as big here you'll find giant stone crab claws that could be worth up to $90 in general for something like this for the Colossal size yes sir mind blowing here you can find processing facilities boiling giant containers of seafood like this 400 lb basket of spiny lobsters a creature who competes with the main lobster for the title of the USA's favorite Seafood now for me unequivocally I would have to say I love them why okay so first of all okay tell me in this series I don't just want to eat America's Finest Seafood I want to show you where it comes from standing shoulder Tosh shoulder with fishermen who undergo backbreaking work you're hired thank you just to deliver you the perfect fight you know there's this trend now if you're not cool as a white person people might say you're not invited to the barbecue or you're not invited to the cookout well you here man let me get that please I'm invited oh yeah I'm feeling pretty cool from Main to Miami our cross country Seafood journey is about to begin right here on this dock right now we're at a local Harbor there's a both behind me and this boat belongs to Jacob nolles you might be wondering who that is until you remember that wait I keep seeing this guy Tik Tok and Instagram and YouTube it's that guy we have a fairly large female that's currently full of eggs the way he makes money is by fishing for lobster or caging the lobster go into a cage today I'm on a mission to learn how Lobster trapping works and the labor intensive process required to ship these guys to their final destination whether it's across the country or across the world right now we're about to go out on this lobster boat to pull up some cages and see what we can find let's do this for me a fervent Seafood lover coming here to the most e Eastern Outpost of New England is an absolute dream this cold clean Atlantic water is home to one of the most sought-after lobsters in the world all hand harvested from small day boats by independent lobstermen with special licenses Jacob just like Jacob n put her there nice to meet you you are a lobsterman is that what it's called Lobster fisherman Lobster either one what's this place like I would say it's pretty oldfashioned how is it different from the rest of the USA we kind of got left back in time Maine sparsely populated with only 1.4 million is dotted with historic buildings cozy towns and more lighthouses than you could shake a stick out especially in the fishing world the average age of fisherman is 55 years old generational family driven I'm fifth generation and for five generations you've been able to do that and there's still enough Lobster yeah and that's thanks to the sustainability measures that are in place for it soon I'll be tasting one of Jacob's largest catches but snagging these lobsters in the Gulf of Maine isn't just about casting a net and counting your Bounty many of them are illegal to keep all right so we're pulling up to the first buoy on each buoy we have two lobster traps they're all baited they're sitting on bottom we're going to pull them up and see what's in them do you even remember how old you were the first time you got on a boat no I don't it was probably four or five with my dad it's just you've been doing it your actual entire life my entire life it's like on America's Got Talent when girls are like I've been dancing since I was two but for you maybe so yeah grew up doing it we got a few lobsters this is the first trap this is what we would call the header these are Pairs and here comes the tailor we got a real nice keeper here this is a large Lobster about a two- pounder fantastic eating lobster so on a typical day we start much earlier than this 3:30 in the morning we have 800 traps stay in the water all the time and we just go out we pull 400 traps in each rotation we bring our catch back in and sell it at the end of the day it's just day trips we don't do any kind of trip fishing we got a real large female so in Maine we actually can't keep them when they get too big this one's probably a keeper it's very close we'll have to measure it to find out in 1872 main set the standard with a suite of regulations to safeguard its precious Lobster populations these same measures are still enforced today so I can quickly tell that most of these are too short there are strict size limits they all go back the traps themselves must be equipped with Escape Vents and biodegradable panels in the rare event a trap is lost these hog rings will rust out this door will open it will let everything in the trap out then there's the v-n notch a way of marking females who will be the future mothers of tomorrow's Lobster catch she's a proven breeder so we must let her go this is one of many things that keeps fishery so sustainable Jacob launched his Tik Tok Journey years ago breaking down the ins and outs of lobster traffic somebody's already given her a notch if you've been watching my shorts you probably learned that the notch is a way to protect them now he has millions of followers and he's even been featured in The New York Times though he's become an internet sensation he hasn't left the SE behind I'm going to open it up attempt to take out each species that's inside of here I'm going to start with this little guy oh yes it's a small joner CRA we get paid better money for the lobster so that's what we target bye little guy all right we got oh this right here is is it a boy or a girl that's a female y just look at their swimmer ettes here and their upper ones are very flimsy on the males they'll be bigger more stiff so we're keeping this one this one is probably too short actually oh no there's other regulations we can only keep them if they're over 3 and a/ qu from their eye down to the back of their shelf you can see this one's clearly under 3 and a/ qu so she's got to be released as well they need a chance to show that they can breed we sometimes will give them a fish for a snack for the road if you've seen that I did see that I like that I'm going right to this gigantic one we've got in here see if I can do it oh my god wow those are very nice yeah talking about size it's a female he's got no KN so far we're okay what about the length along with three and a qu they also can't be over 5 in that's the other side of our measure that's my wife's requirements for me yeah 5 in is very large so it's just barely legal this is actually a keeper really she's actually a hard shell she's going to taste much different than a soft shell lobster much different the soft shells are much sweeter I actually very much prefer the soft shell lobsters most of us when we're eating a lobster in a restaurant around the country are we eating a hard shell or a soft shell almost always you're eating a hard shell because they're durable they survive shipping much better soft shells aren't able to survive shipping we can't ship a soft shell to Florida I just feel so ripped off right now yeah well you're going to get to experience right here right out of the ocean you've got some this one right here is a nice soft shell next Jacob's preparing a meal fit for royalty dining on Fresh Lobster from Trap to table the star of the show this barely legal hard shell and some softies too all steamed the fisherman's way using salty ocean water obviously you know the Nuance of lobster you live here you fish for them you eat it often I eat it probably five or six times a year usually just for occasions my wife likes them so whenever she wants them I bring them home I don't eat them for myself necessarily I do enjoy them though yeah don't uh don't what don't smoke your own Supply don't get high on your own Supply after 12 minutes it's time to take a look these ones are definitely done we got a big one in here that we're going to give him five more minute meanwhile Jacob whips up a local lobster dipping sauce here's a little trick we actually add vinegar to the butter this top secret don't tell anybody the vinegar adds great flavor to the butter and kind of cuts it in my opinion it's much better in the future Jacob aims to Pivot his online presence into a full-time gig while making lobster fishing the side gig but for now he's sticking to what he knows best when I said I wanted to try this giant nearly 4 lb Lobster you said nasty it does why from what I hear they are much less sweet hold on you're saying nasty but you don't even know for sure you want to bet five bucks well okay it's not going to be nasty but it's not going to be like these all right let's try it out the first thing we do is separate the tail from the body separate the tail flippers from the tail we have a hole right here in the back push your finger right in the work good oo there's a big tail that was like a magic button you pressed oh what's that part you're taking off now it's covering the poop CHS we can eat it but this is the more preferred part of the tail let's try it plain Cheers [Music] Cheers it tastes good I still like it I'm surprised how good it tastes it's pretty sweet it's on the edge of being tough but not too tough slightly stringy not too stringy let's try shadow that was our Benchmark now we're going to try one of these you'll notice that the tail has much less meat in it you take one tail I take one tail ready let's go for it M you can taste the sweetness you can taste the innocent it's so young oh that's so delicious very good clean sweet fatty and just a wonderful texture what I want to try next is the butter which you have mixed with vinegar which is something I've never tried before let's go for it m that's the best what that's my favorite that is super unique I don't feel like it takes away from the Flavor of the lobster not at all yeah it elevates the flavor of the butter that's really nice my favorite part of the lobster is actually the claws you can pull the knuckles right out more tender me that is much more akin to like a crab leg much more like crab meat what's next with the pin claw we're actually going to have to break it there we go there's a piece for you that's my favorite bite right there thank you I'm excited let's go give a little bit of a dip Bliss is that your favorite part too that's Nirvana I went to a new level of Food Heaven that's great oh that's fantastic I just had this thought like you know if a Mormon knocked on your door and then they were like taste this and then you're like oh my God and they're like you have that for eternity I'd be like where do I sign just a moment of perfection we can have more moments I can have more moments this is incredible all you can eat buffet it's raining and I don't even care even with today's abundant Harvest not all of these lobsters are considered good next we're headed to a facility where I'll learn what makes a bad Lobster and the tragic story of where they end up Victor how you doing good how are you now I'm told this is a processing facility for lobsters but then I was also told the lobsters come here they're alive when they leave they're also alive what kind of processing is happening here much of Main's live lobster Hall heads to facilities like lobster track do you pay them who pays them we pay them these centers can pross up to 600,000 lb of Lobster at a time and they can store 200,000 lb of live lobster holding them for up to 3 months depending on market demand if you have overrun in the winter time same thing in the fall we'll put lobsters in we feed them take care of them I like you say take care of them like take them for walks give them medicine no medicine a Lobster Pound is designed to emulate the natural envir M of the crustations until they're ready to go to market Victor we're inside now right here behind me it's a giant pool it's full of baskets of lobster if we're going to pull out we get what we call a basic boat run we then segregate whether it's a good lobster or a processed Lobster what makes a bad Lobster something that is not uniform to what you'd want to see on a dinner plate because the claws are different size what happened there he could have lost that years ago of course they do regrow their claws so he's not up to speed yet same thing would like this one okay I could have figured this one out what do they consider this a pist well he's got one arm the bad lobsters where do they go a lot of times they go to Canada depending on what's Happening where they'll actually be broken down Canada you can have our crappy lobsters we're keeping the good ones they actually process them down into meat format where they can go in stews or they can go into Sushi somewhere where you don't have to see their disgusting one CLA body corre I had no idea there were so many deformed lobsters crawling around on the ocean floor cuz all you ever get to see are the beautiful ones on the flip side the good lobsters are meticulous sorted into seven weight categories this would be like three and a half those tipping the scales at over 2 lb are labeled select and they fetch the highest prices where are you shipping these all around the world we have an office in Spain and Holland Vietnam Germany Berlin some of that will go Air Freight some of it will go by truck so some are float wild there's a lot of Labor of Love Behind These in order to get this all around the world from here I'm going to ship myself to a nearby restaurant can try some of this lobster right here in Maine yeah there could be nothing better than eating lobster at a restaurant that was voted best of Portland here they've won best waterfront dining best deck and most important best lobster rooll first of all very happy to be here I'm excited because I'm from Minesota far from an ocean so in my head I thought well we're not really a bun of a seafood country but it's like oh wait maybe that's because I live super far from both oceans but you grew up in Maine I did there's a lot of seafood there is among their top sellers the classic steamed lobster with corn a Savory clam roll with plenty of fried clam and the legendary lobster roll of which they sell an impressive 600 portions daily and I'm about to make it 600 And1 but first I want to wet my appetite with another main specialty this is clam chowder New England clam chowder iconic first marry salted butter and chopped pork together then stir until it turns golden brown something I've wanted to try my whole life I mean I've had Campbell New England clam chowder how would this compare admin onions and celery then anchovies garlic more salted butter and stir they kind of made clam chowder the idea of clam chowder what it is so when people come and they're looking for a clam chowder they're looking for that thick consistency next keep adding allpurpose flour and mix until the blend becomes thick actually a traditional chowder is a thin soup oh okay we're giving the people what they want now pour in chopped clam that's been boiling with tomatoes isn't that heartbreaking it is a little bit I don't go to China expect to see a cream cheese won do you still like this I love it I like both both good just different toss in clam juice mix diced potatoes mix then add salt white pepper dried parsley basil and half in half finally some scallion to top it off M oh that's so [Music] good oh it's a wonderful combination of textures mushy potato and the clam is super chewy but it's a wonderful chewy you kind of like chewing the flavor out of it the potato chunks feel like more fresh mhm am I comparing it to Campbell right now what type of clam are you using these are just like a like a run the-mill clam yeah there's places pretty close that you can dig clams right out of the ocean one of my co-workers just is telling me about digging with their toes I don't think that's how they're doing it for these ones okay I hope not how long have you lived here I've lived in Portland for 17 years but I lived in main my whole life when we first came here I was really excited I'm still excited but I was told this is the biggest city in Maine and I picture wow like futuristic metropolis and then I looked it up 65,000 people so what is the personality of Portland it's a foodie City people are passionate about cooking here we have access to beautiful Seafood we have a great Farmland here as well Fresh Veggies foraged foods and things like that we have beef Farms we have dairy farms we have potatoes we have blueberries we have a lot to offer foodwise so for someone who enjoys cooking it's awesome so the tourists who do come here what are they after uh Seafood what foods are most tourists after when they come here I mean I think Lobster probably after our freshly boiled Lobster has been chilled they meticulously extract the succulent meat from the tails to the tips of the claws a crisp lettuce leaf Nestles inside a Toasted Bun cradling the chilled Lobster add a drizzle of melted butter served up with a side of golden fries and this Coastal Indulgence is at its best would you say that's a whole lobster in there yeah it's a meat from just about a 1B Lobster in each roll joining Carissa and me Portland Lobster Company owner Ethan Morgan M mhm so you have this great combination of temperatures actually you have the roll which is hot it's still steaming and then all the lobster inside is chilled you do have some butter on the side just in case if people want it yeah you got to try it it adds just a little salt adds a little bit more to it take it to the next level M and that's really all you need it's so fresh it's so clean it's sweet it's fatty I love it what got you into this business I came here to pour beers 20 years ago during college that was it I was going to spend one summer here on the coast just fell in love with it what's interesting to me about not just Portland but Maine is it has a small town feel everyone feels very connected everyone knows everybody especially within this very prominent industry everybody knows some lobsterman people who work at processing areas people who are selling the final product I guess one of my big questions is the people actually catching the lobster are they getting a raw deal because it seems like we have so many middlemen in so many Industries and it's never like oh the farmers increase their prices again no it's always like everyone else increases their prices the lobster is still $5 a pound the lobstermen work they work really hard they're the ones that are out there 3:00 in the morning 4:00 in the morning going out setting traps working all hours of the day to bring in not a whole lot you've been doing this for a long time what are the biggest challenges you face or that other lobstermen face there's a lot of times throughout the year where the fishing is poor and during those times we're limited to how far we can kind of explore and search for lobsters we just kind of got to wait and grind it out and during those times it becomes pretty tedious and then the back breaking work obviously it's very physical labor my father my grandfather by the time they're 40 5050 years old their bodies are worn out jeez yeah the tourist Market here in the state drives some of the price for sure but a lot of it is driven by processing houses a couple of months ago we'd start sourcing our own lobsters ultimately the goal is be able to work with a handful of lobstermen that we know and then we can pay them a fair amount more to cut out that middleman it's a pretty touchy subject here in the state for sure why is this a sensitive topic so the boats are coming in they're selling to a pound they're selling them on to somebody else everybody's tacking on 20 cents 30 cents here and there it's not that anybody is necessar gouging it's just that it's an expensive process too you're trying to keep an animal alive and that takes an awful lot of resources to do so when it gets to the table you're seeing a fairly high price that isn't necessarily reflected on the boat what do you think is the future for the lobster industry here fishermen that are off the coast of main they recognize that this is the industry for the state they recognize that it is their bread and butter and they're very good at self-sustaining they're setting their own regulations and it's been a model of sustainability that's something that more money needs to be driven to right now as we do start looking at War Waters things I'm sure you learned the other day about v- notching trap excluders everything like that they're not going to be over [Music] fishing our East Coast Seafood tour takes us from Portland Maine all the way down to the Big Apple here you'll find one of the world's biggest seafood markets second in size only the suuki market in Japan this is pton fish market in New York City and it is 300 a.m. this is the earliest call time I've ever had in my life what is it with fish people being nocturnal this Central Seafood Hub means that delightful creatures from near and far end up in New York City's best restaurants from affordable pick your own fish Greek joints Greek Seafood how is it different from any other type of seafood preparation to Michelin rated restaurants with some of the most expensive Seafood menus in the city fish and seafood they're difficult to work with compared to steak pork in spite of that why do you choose to have such a heavy focus on fish and seafood here but before we die we got to go get some fish what time does this place get cracking in the morning cuz it's 3:00 a.m. and it's going at a pretty good Cliff right now yeah 1:00 the pallet start dropping ice starts getting thrown on the fish and the buyers start rolling in in 1822 Manhattan witnessed the Inception of Colton Fish Market renowned as one of the oldest seafood markets in the USA the Brooklyn Bridge built over the market 65 years after starting out the Market's relocation to the Bronx in 2005 expanded its footprint to 400,000 sare ft securing its position as the world's second largest seafood market in 2013 they went digital letting folks from All Over America snag their favorite Seafoods The Coop which is the Fon Fish Market is 20 some individually family run businesses some of which are sixth generation predates the US Civil War they all have direct connections with the fishermen the fishermen go out they catch and they know descended here they get paid immediately and we sell it boasting annual sales exceeding $1 billion and a remarkable daily turnover of 13 to 15 million PB of seafood this Market consistently amazes even the most frequent patrons right now I'm hunting down the juiciest most exotic ocean treasure I can find treasure that I'll soon bring to two vastly different restaurants where I'll see how they treat this meat and Bobby here has a very promising offer Bobby put her there I feel like I'm going to die it's so goddamn cold in here it's like 32 in here 30 m low freezing I like it starting out as a Clam Digger Bobby developed a deep affection for the fish market he once provided for after over five Decades of selling experience he's now a tuna expert where do you think the best tuna in the world comes from I would have to say the Northeast right here this time of year the Japanese might disagree that they have a certain area where they like their tuna better but you really can't beat this can we try it out sure so if this was a blue fin tuner this belly would be like that thing and that's where you get your Otoro choro oh that looks fantastic [Music] cheers The Taste the fat feel the fat mhm it tastes amazing the only thing missing is some sake well I have some Scotch upstairs but it's very rich oily but a very neutral flavor I love it this is a local big eye tuna so this is the loin this would be the akami the red meat so you can see the fat down here by the skin that's to the outside of the fish the fish has to keep itself warm I keep my fat on the outside too again the fat first thing hit you more flavor more pronounced I think definitely more flavor to it less fat Cold clean beautiful I love it I want to ask you a couple questions about New York City around the USA some cities are known as Seafood cities is New York City a Seafood City I think so the culture has been they eat things from the ocean and from the streams and estuaries around New York City back in the 20s even before that the average New Yorker ate 600 wasters a year now you can buy like a car with that much money has the world of Seafood in New York City changed a lot from the time you started oh definitely when I started in 1972 there wasn't that much importance there wasn't farmed salmon even now of course we get fish from everywhere and I mean everywhere every continent even Antarctica and as the culture of the city changes they bring their cultural tastes also so everything comes in tuna hasimi is amazing but I'm craving a more unconventional and intriguing Seafood Pioneer vendor Warren may have just the thing Warren put her there how are you pleasure to seeing you this early this morning I stopped here because you have a fish I've never seen before now I have seen a pom frit but every time I've seen a pom frit it's about this big and then I come here I'm told it's the same type of fish at least the same species but it's gigantic can I pick it up please this is the biggest pomp frit I've ever seen in my life pom frit are a family of deep sea dwellers scattered around the globe this fella is an Atlantic pom frit stretching up to 40 in and Diving as deep as 3,300 ft below the surface you know it's a deep deep fish so the density of the meat is really tight so it's going to take to anything you do what we'll do is we'll fillet one for you and we'll show you it's a really nice tight translucent meat has a nice oil and has a nice flavor platform well let's slice her OV yeah let's do it the fish is from one cheese North Carolina and it's kind of a by catch but it's really a treat we don't see it all season long it's only a certain part of the year that we really get into as you can see a beautiful nice thin bloodline that's something that would look great in the sushi bar I'd eat that you're going to oh yes M oh it's almost irony and you're right very dense but cold fresh delicious I love it intrigued by the giant pom's potential unpacking it up as a surprise gift for speo the Maestro of this town's favorite wallet friendly Seafood stop so will he love and accept my Seafood offering have you cooked one of these before no I haven't or simply show me the door I think he hates the [Music] pumpit beyond your ordinary Greek Eatery Historia Seafood is a two-in-one restaurant with no menu a bring your own bottle policy and an open floor for spontaneous live performances but I'd be lost without the guidance of second generation owner spirro can you tell me in just a couple sentences what is the concept behind this restaurant it's really a retail Market Restaurant so you come in buy fish take it home cook it at home or you can actually tell us what you want to do with it and we make it for you I know you don't usually do this but I brought my own fish it's right here in this cooler I'm going to show you that soon to see if it's something you think you could work with okay you've heard of a pmit right pom yes yes this is a freaking giant Palm frit okay a huge one have you ever seen one this big I've seen them that big yeah oh okay for me it's a first have you cooked one of these before no I haven't but it looks like it's a dark more oily based fish and um those are usually my favorite are you up for the challenge sure my pom frit is destined for two Greek style dishes for our first dish the pum fruit pets go through a four-step skincare routine with salt pepper garlic and SE spices Greek Seafood how is it different from any other type of seafood preparation it's a Mediterranean swing on it Grill is the probably the biggest thing that we do and it's done with uh virgin olive oil and fresh garlic oregano salt pepper lemon then they relax on the grill until their skin is tanned and crispy what are some of the most Classic Fish you serve here there's a bunch that are local a bunch from South America also from Mediterranean there a bronzino black Seabass red snappa all those fish are beautiful fish the grilled Palm frits fillets are dressed up with garlic oil asparagus broccoli onion tomato and vinegar pleasure very nice to meet you how does this look to you excellent joining us at the table sp's father and founder of Historia Seafood vasilis we can do a kind of family style right we all dig in this is one of the thickest fillets I've ever seen in my life cheers nice that's delicious first time meat proper it has a very good texture yeah it's very soft it's very flaky and the seasoning is incredible what's interesting is early this morning at fton Market I tried the raw version of this fish it tasted like blood it was very irony but now that flavor completely gone like I said this is the first time I've had pmit and I think it's not bad at all in New York that's a compliment right yeah yeah yeah know it's a very good it's a very good fish for our second dish pmri fillets are rubbed down with salt pepper garlic some secret spices and a garlic marinade then there's sandwich between two layers of fresh onion tomato and bell pepper our Chef tops it off with loads of feta cheese and an olive oil lemon mixture then tosses the plate in the [Music] oven I don't think I've ever had cheese melted on a fillet unless it was a feto fish a lot of people ain't crazy about it I kind of you kind of like it I enjoy it delicious that's really good these are the flavors I think of when I think Mediterranean it's so fresh got the lemon the olive oil the fresh vegetables it's really incredible I like the cheese a lot it adds a little personality but this sexy dish isn't enough to hold back my temptation to add even more to the table so speo has nominated Best in Show a black sea bass black SE is a local fish from Ocean it's a nice fish it's fatty and what's the best way do you like score it and fry it or youill it just Grill it home our second fish for today's meal is gutted and clean next it's flavor with salt pepper garlic and homemade spices before being grilled whole while the fish sizzles ither more about vas you were born in Greece when did you come to the USA 1968 I left the Greece from better life well United States always is better you know between the 1950s and 1970s Greece experienced an exodus of over 1 million driven by the aftermath of World War II and an economic crisis America welcomed nearly 130,000 of them a story became home to the second largest Greek diaspora in the world my brothers will live in aor lot of community I is most of is a great after arriving in the USA vasilius continued his family's traditional job as a Fisher did you find a better life here I so get you make a big family lot of grandchildren 12 years ago he retired and opened a story of seafood right here we have the seab bass where do I start my favorite is the Nate the neck part which this this here this is the clean meat up on top no bones on nothing try it out M that's really nice it's got a fatty skin it's got a fatty texture has a little more character I agree a little bit more flavor to the meat less neutral it's a bold Flavor a little bit more oily a little bit more fatty it's almost Smoky a little bit yeah that's a good fish can you find food like this all around Historia to find good food you know hisor is a huge Melting Pot around the 70s and ' 80s the stor was primarily Greek but now you have maybe 150 different countries people coming in and out of here you know from Vietnamese to Italian to Greek to Egyptian to Moroccan you have all the cultures in one area I still have a lot to learn about New York but it seems like it makes sense initially when a city like this comes together that in the beginning people would tightly cluster with those who they know those with whom they share language and culture and customs and so on but by the third generation they're just American what do you think about the future of Historia is going to be likely less and less Greek well I think it's lost a lot of its identity from back in the days but it's just turning into something a little bit more uh World oriented our kids grew up with all different cultures I grew up with all different people it's just a beautiful thing so no issue no quals no no qu that's progress that's evolution in its neighbor our most expensive Seafood meal takes place in the world's most expensive Metropolis Manhattan and right now I'm headed to a restaurant with one of New York's most expensive tasting menus your tasting menu is $298 per person how do we get to that price with me and offering my final mystery Seafood from Fon Fish Market but will it meet the standards of this two Michelin star chef chef good afternoon afternoon how you feeling really really good uh I wish I could say the same I woke up at 150 this morning so I could smell like fish Chef James Kent is the conductor in this two Michelin starred restaurant known as Saga his menu is a symphony of European techniques harmonizing with global flavors and inspiration with seafood playing a prominent role for you what is the biggest challenge in sourcing good quality seafood seafood is almost always bad and I say that because it has a life and every fishmonger has this depreciating asset that they got fish to sell so like even our best fish purveyor we need to hold their feet to the fire like when they send whole fish you'll see the eyes are clear and they probably showed you why it is a pristine ingredient if you like order it FedEd they find the worst fish in F give to see if they'll slip it through well today I'm the one who is delivering ingredients to you I see you've got some sea urchins I've never seen sea urchins like this it looks like it's grass growing on them instead of these spiky needles where these come from so they are diver caught in Massachusetts they dive down and they dig in and they grab them they pick them off bring them up they'll clean them off they're excellent actually they're very good so what do you think of these the quality of these ones that I brought you today I think they look good yes I've had Sea Urchins in Tokyo didn't love what felt like they were really metallic tasting at the end but then I tried them again in Vietnam I tried them in the Pharaoh Islands loved it very different flavor here these are from massachusett so should we break into some of these and see how they taste so this is the reproductive organ of this they look like little Cavo that's like a waste product I've never eaten this before I probably accidentally have it smells really neutral which I guess is what you want right this is a good thing you don't want it to stuff to smell fishy smells fishy means that it's old cheers creamy super creamy not that mineraly stuff you're talking about no this might be the best one I've ever had only in New York this is really good cuz it's just about that fatty taste and feeling and there's not a lot of excess baggage to go with it that is really good all right note to self start cleaning my uni the sea urgin is set to become one element in the collection of many coming together to shape the Kento box a Bento Box reimagined by Chef Kent I love the idea of about breaking bread place at this level traditional find out your restaurants they give you one thing it's perfect you eat it and go away and then for us a lot of the things that we do is very much like this this is share and it sits in the center of the table and you fight over things but you're like yeah I'm hungry I'll take a whole box this vibrant box encourages you to embrace Boton select any item that appeals to you and savor it in your own unique way there's some fat beautiful scallops this is EXO sauce so there a little bit of spice and this is a crab jelly only in New York that first bite was amazing scallop is perfectly cooked almost like melting on my tongue the EXO sauce it has nice punch to it a little bit of heat really good served as the intro to a seven course tasting menu this edible work of art reflects the culmination of multiple days of preparation for every single component plus Chef India's painstakingly meticulous assembly so there's a bottom and a top for each box top is for the fish the bottom is for the veg this is the sweet potato compressed and Olive o Orange Peel salt and then we cook it in a SED and then it gets fried these are sweet potato chips we toss in a little bit of cilantro powder so what is this base right here this a St waffle whip chai all right hit it with some oie hit it with some of that salmon egg back that's awesome what kind of fish is right here the white is escalar and then the Snapper is this seaweed nor this is when it gets fun you throw one of these on here hit it with some eggs yeah you switch it up oh dude there's no wrong way this is the first thing I've eaten all day me too except for I had Subway for lunch but it was like a high-end Subway your tasting menu is $298 per person how do we get to that price initially when we open this restaurant we looked at other restaurants in New York that we playing in the same pool with so we basically landed at that price point and then we backed all the food to make sure that the business worked and so that's been working yeah we're doing good we we fooled everyone our final dish plucked from the tasting menu is a Ramen inspired soup crafted personally by Chef Kent he extracts a glistening fish steak from a shining red snapper fish and seafood they're difficult to work with compared to steak pork in spite of that why do you choose to have such a heavy focus on fish and seafood here know it shows skill like to cook delicate piece of fish where you cook it over just by a few seconds man I get so sad when someone messes up food cuz like yo this fish was swimming in the ocean living its life chilling and I'm like y you Fu it up and now we're going to throw it away it Des eared more when I die I want them to cure my leg and like slice s p grilled with a whisper of salt the Snapper steak becomes the centerpiece harmonizing with a cured qua a decadent cube of f gr mung bean noodles and a slice of pickled radish the dish enters the table with a steaming pork broth on the side it smells amazing where where should we start I would start with the [Music] broth that F fat that Pork yeah it's Rich Savory and a little sour too yeah we like acid M the Snapper is incredible and it's very salty on top in a good way the texture is really impressive it kind of melts in your mouth not so different from that scallop oh my God I'm going to eat these noodles here so it's a mung bean noodle it's not like a pole noodle so it's not like a spaghetti or like a traditional like Ramen noodle where it has like that like bite that tooth you know it's a little very delicate so similar to our rice noodle and how it's delicate and it soaks up that broth right away really good I want to ask this restaurant has two Michelin stars was that always the goal any Accolade is a byproduct of a great restaurant do I think we have the ability to get three stars at some point I do would I want that 100% is that the goal that is not necessar the [Music] goal the goal is to create the best restaurant we can for me I'm like we are going to be a great restaurant and we're going to do the things that we've all done our whole careers at a high level but let me ask that though as a standalone question if you get the three what happens next we keep it three you know at the end of the day the mission doesn't change we just created a badass [ __ ] restaurant like what's the best that we can do in this SP Chef yes thank you very much let's go appreciate it amazing let's go white our East Coast cross country Seafood Journey continues as we leave New York City's massive pton fish market and head Southward to Maryland here blue crabs are a point of Pride and a huge part of this state's culinary identity you can eat crab cakes all year round but if your friend likes you they will have a crab Feast with you these frigid Waters promote fat growth in the crabs resulting in a rich decadent bite but getting your hands on those decadent crabs is not so easy just kidding my finger was never in there ha now I'm on a mission to follow the Journey of a Maryland Blue Crab from the ocean form you know anybody who's ever lost a finger uh pretty close to the processing facility how do you know if there's any shell in there what do you have like a an x-ray and to it Final Destination being served up in a sandwich with legs at a local eery this is Behemoth right here it's got legs sticking out I love it and it all starts right here on the water now when I first was told I was going to be meeting crabmen I pictured this turns out they're just normal humans who catch crabs but that's cool too we'll be hopping on CJ's boat in just a moment just off the coast here he has over 1,500 pots set ready to trap them crabs let's pull them up and see what we find right now we're jumping aboard the floating vessel known as Miss Paula with 26-year crabbing veteran CJ his daily routine revolves around pulling up hundreds of traps and hoping for the best alongside Him Luke mcfadin a young buck with only eight years in the crabbing game Luke nice to meet you CJ how many days a week are we out here so I haul gear usually four to 5 days a week the crabs don't take a day off do you take a day off I do we are working to deeper water because this is the best time to catch crabs in Maryland these crabs are moving to deeper water to hibernate for the winter blue crabs are native to the Waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico and more than onethird of the USA's blue crab comes from the Chesapeake Bay the largest Estuary in the country here the interplay of salt and fresh water create the ideal conditions for the animals were're after every year during peak season from April to the end of November crabbers like CJ and Luke do their best to cash in boom two crabs he takes a trap he shakes it out the crabs fall down add some bait and then that is going to go to the side just like lobsters in Maine crabs here are caught using traps also called pots these pots are designed to make it easy for crabs to enter and not so easy for them to escape a bait box or pouch is placed inside the trap to lure them in these crabs are extremely picky they want fresh chicken necks they want fresh fish they want the best chicken necks is part of their natural diet it makes sense up to 25 traps are submerged in the water and connected to a line it's like a free meal for the crabs but with a little bit of a catch and a catch is exactly what we're after look at these crabs I there we go oh my God this thing is gigantic holy cow look at this dude oh no you got to hold him just like that if your fingers are too far underneath he'll get a hold of you you ever get pinched all all the time every day you know I've seen so much Seafood around the world mostly in Asia and I've seen so little in my own country and just the shape of the carrus how it shuts out like some kind of ancient Mongolian warrior wearing a helmet the claws the colors they're really beautiful is this a male or a female that's a male crab you can tell it looks like the Washington Monument the females have the capital Dome honestly that is the G version it just looks like a penis that's what I say the Washington Monument in the capital Dome kidfriendly show in the good day time a year how many crabs are you pulling up it's more than a couple less than a few for tax reasons you don't want to say how many or what unlike other Fisheries negatively affected by climate change blue crabs are throwing a shell of a party in the warmer Waters with better breeding conditions than all but the crabbers still need to play it cool with regulations to keep the crab sustainable for the long run in Maryland everything is regulated in the beginning of the season it's a 5 in mail crab limit a crab under 5 and 1/4 in right now is not legal unless it's a peeler crab it's only got to be 3 and2 in what is a peer crab that means it's about to shed yeah so it's going to show sign on its second swim pin that that crab is going to shed within a couple days once checked the unqualified crab gets a VIP return ticket to the ocean floor peeler crabs are brought to CJ's own processing facility which we'll soon see what it feels so creepy larger crabs hit the market as big shots sold whole and ready to impress meanwhile the more humble sized crabs are sent to a proc processing facility where their meat is extracted Chesapeake brand Seafood sends about 6,000 crabs into containers chalk full of oceanic Delights every single day first piles of crabs are cooked all the way through once boiled the succulent treasure within is meticulously extracted by the hands of skilled Pickers finally the meat morsels are sorted by grade then packaged shipped and prepared to undertake a gastronomic journey all around the USA But if you find yourself in the crab Utopia that is Maryland it would be a culinary transgression not to savor the state's quintessential Delight the crab cake and what better way to elevate the experience than by enjoying it on a boat with the captain let me tell you a sad story when I was 22 I had almost no money I went to the Rainforest Cafe it's an independent restaurant I'm not sure if you've heard of and I ordered the crab cakes and then I paid I don't know $25 it was a lot of money back then and it just was a tiny bread disc with maybe the so of a crab I'm not even sure if any crab meat actually reached the cake then this is the opposite it's big beautiful full of big chunks that you can actually see these are the best crab cakes I think I've ever seen crab cakes they're either packed with flour and fillers or they're made right Maryland crab cakes are not a bunch of filler allow CJ to show you how it's done first the base mixture so we're going to add the J crab cake mix going to want exactly half a cup of mayonnaise perfect like a little hot sauce like a little mustard was Shire sauce little parsley for health now the main dish here we're using jumbo Maryland crab meat the best on earth once the patties are forged to his exacting standards they stand ready for the flat top oh it's big and heavy guys let's dig in [Music] cheers oh man oh delicious big chunks of seasoning and when it's warmed up like that it really just brings out the flavor of the crab I'm getting hit some mayonnaise I'm getting the seasoning a little bit of the the how do you say it the worst worst to shister Shire that sauce in there too but all of it playing beautifully off the crab the crab meat itself is super tender it's almost like a fattiness to it what do you think I couldn't be more pleas I'm so curious about where this crab ends up because when you're talking about something like lobster it's a premium product it's something everybody wants and so people are taking the time and effort to ship it across the country and across the world but when it comes to Blue Crab I know the meat might make it everywhere but the crabs themselves the fresh animal the creature while even still alive where's that getting to the crabs caught in Maryland in ch PE Bay probably 90 or 95% are eaten in Maryland they do not leave because demand is that high so actually we ship a lot of crabs Louisiana Texas North Carolina South Carolina a huge portion of their crabs also come to Maryland so Maryland is just really the live blue crab eating capital of the world what is it about these blue crabs that people love so much it really is in a lot of ways like the heart and soul of Maryland it's like when you come to Maryland like you got to try a crab C if your friend likes you they will have a crab Feast with you if you come to Maryland and you don't get to experience a crab Feast need better friends yeah get better friends when it comes to pin-sized crabs like these the task of breaking through their shells for each minuscule morsel of meat can be tedious I've tried opening up small crabs I get through the claws when I get to the body I just give up but what have I told you CJ has found a solution next we're heading to his house where I'll eat an entire crab hole including the Shelf poor guy is probably like what the [ __ ] I feel everything CJ's house is like a crab laboratory a crab ratory with cages stacked up high and every corner serving as a different workshop for his crab experiments yet the true Treasures lie hidden within his garage CJ right now we're in your creepy crab laboratory this is where the magic happens we bring the peelers the crabs that are very close to molting or shedding their shells we put them in here and then when they shed out their shells and turn into soft crabs you help them out of the shell right into the frying pan the best eating crab you're going to get that's what we sell as a soft crab that would be eaten whole a crab doesn't grow its shell rather it mols shedding the old exoskeleton squeezing its way out then forming a new one in a lifetime a blue crab mols about 20 times this crab shed last night and you can see here the crab can't even hold its claws up it's so soft that it's just kind of hanging out this is the most valuable crab for me these softies can sell for over twice the price of a typical hard shell that's why CJ under go the tedious process of crab sitting what it feels so creepy it's leathery I've never touched a crab like this oh you poor guy he's looking at me like man if I had any stiffness to my claws I would bite you in the finger but you can wow that is a new one for me that's really cool to see so in this instance you're going to be eating the entire crab the claws the shell the carrus everything is that right yes you eat everything we cut the face and the eyes off the devil and then the apron good I don't want it looking at me yes it won't be looking at you CJ's approach to soft shell crab cooking is pure Simplicity treating it much like a premium [Music] steak onto a hot Skillet it goes with butter and a Sprinkle of Jo seasoning this is the main event but before we sink our teeth into that we're having a full-on crab boil just toss today's catch into a giant steamer spring inle it with a dash of Joo seasoning Let the Fire kick in and you'll know it's feasting time when those crabs blush into a vibrant red Hue this reminds me of what I've experienced in the South when I went to Alabama and they have a crawfish boil and they have just a giant vessel filled with 10,000 crawfish they put it out all over the table it's kind of like your version of that maybe that's their version of this yeah cheers to that this is a classic Maryland summertime scene right here there a pile of crabs just go at it with some friends let's get into it I like starting with the claws what is the strategy here I'll just try to break it you know on the table that way oh that works wow this meat looks incredible it's kind of dark the me delicious juicy sweet that jail seasoning tastes like pepper tastes like Cayenne that's real good now if I want to get into this body how would I do that all right and pick the apron like that the Washington Monument yep and then you're going to pull top shelf off right there that's actually an undeveloped shell so that crab was going to shed in the near future you can eat that and that is good M oh yeah it's really good wo completely different experience it's Briny salty super fatty and even a touch bitter depending on what's connected to there so this is the hard shell crab this is something that's a little bit more familiar to me even though I've not had it with the seasoning or done up in this way incredible but next the soft shell crab a crab that just shed yesterday it's basically as soft as it can be the meat it still has that leathery feel to the outside it's still flexible it's very disconcerting it's got legs but tantalizing at the same time [Music] cheers wo very different than the crab cakes or the hard crabs that is so different so the legs have their own kind of taste flavor to them the body itself this is wild this is one of the most delicious things I've ever had in my face I get why you have a super creepy garage now absolutely what's wild too is if you eat a hard shell crab like this I mean to real estate there's not that much left compared to eating the entire soft shell crab and every bite is Magic it's like juicy I know that sounds weird but it's almost like a casing on like a sausage you know yeah that's a great way to explain it cuz you take a bite the skin is kind of tight around the outside and your teeth break through that you get to that juicy core on the inside they're delicious that's got to be one of the better eaten things coming out of this Bay for sure how often are you doing something like this this is all potential profit right here I I can't afford to eat my crab they're going hide don't get high on your own supply of crabs CJ soft shell crabs become a better value when sold to restaurants where they can turn into culinary goal like here at Ocean Odyssey Crab House a seafood restaurant that's matched a love for seafood with a sense of adventure with their sandwich known as Bay on a bun the unique thing about this sandwich is it encapsulates uh the best things that the baay has to offer from crabs oysters and fish first we're going to dredge the fish a little egg wash and our seasoned flour then the same with the soft crab and the oysters will go straight into the flour they're all treated to a nice long fry now it's time for the build all right so we have our Toasted Bun start with a bed of mixed greens and we'll stack the catfish followed by the soft crab and the oysters ol of sauce so this is a tomao aoli and merry sauce and that is how you make the bay on the bun this is a massive a leviathan it's got legs sticking out I love it joining me ocean Odyssey co-owner Travis if I'm not mistaken this is your brainchild it's not just the soft shell inside it we've got fish we've got oysters everything on the bay inside this bun let's go for it oh yeah that is a whole different experience so yesterday I had a soft shell crab that had just shed the night before and then it was hand sear and it was softt tender juicy I would compare it to a spicy cheddar Johnsonville BR that was half filled with crab meat that's my white trash comparison but this is all fried so it changes the texture a little bit sure you get that extra crunch it's tough to tell in the moment where you're chewing on there's like some rinier bites that thing must be the oyster there's some really hot chunks which I think must be the fish cuz it's holding all that heat but that crab still has that skin on the outside it's partially crispy still partially like a sausage skin that snaps as you chew through it exactly plus you got the sauce nice and creamy bringing it all together and a little bit of vegetables you know for fiber that's right I guess need some vitamins in there tell me about being a seasonal restaurant cuz this is kind of new to me and something that it feels unexpected for the USA because if anybody has a successful business people on the outside are like why isn't a franchise yet why don't you have five locations why aren't you working 100 hours a week mwh you shut the doors every winter we do we're a crab house that's a big part of what we are you know the crab season is from April until sometimes December November now that's the harvesting season so if they're in the Chesapeake Bay we've got them if they're not if they're moving which they do or if it's a winter time and they're buried in the mud we kind of go into a hibernation just like the crabs do what begins as a small scuttling Marvel of nature transforms into a Powerhouse resource leaving an indelible mark on the state of Maryland the blue crab isn't just a piece of cultural heritage drawing in tourists who are eager to savor the state's distinct Seafood but it also serves as an economic gold mine for hardworking locals you've both been doing this a good chunk of time and a lot of people they just see the end product whether it's at the store or in a restaurant but they don't really have access to the first step of sourcing these ingredients so for you guys what would you say are the biggest challenges that you and other crabmen are facing our profit margin has shrunk over the last you know 20 years since I started doing it because everything has increased exponentially but the price of crabs has only gone up kind of slowly I agree I mean it's you know really it's how much money can you get for what you can catch because with a lot of the new regulation and coming into play you're going to hit caps here eventually and so like the approach I've taken is a little different than most guys I really just wanted to sell more grabs you know so I catch all my own like CJ but I sell all my own direct to the customer for both of you you both have had this journey on social media online where do you hope that ends up like I always say something for my grandkids to see uh down the line they'll get to know what I did did I just saw social media as a really really good way to build a customer base but you know also give an insight into who catches your food how your food actually gets from where it is to the table you know and bridge that kind of Gap because it's something that people have no idea you know and they don't realize that like in America there's still a really strong sustainable healthy commercial fishing fleet you know most people think a fisherman is people that just want to take take take and leave nothing behind but to us we're dependent on the resource and so we're the ones that are most interested actually in finding ways to make sure that we can go to work and feed our [Music] families our East Coast Seafood tour is taking us all the way here to the oyster capital in Virginia either allw nothing on it to start nothing on it this is full of sea water this multi-million dollar industry is responsible for the harvesting of millions of oysters each year Virginia is the top three oyster producers in the country but bringing these mollusks to maturity isn't as straightforward as you might think even in the same body of water the way the Sun hits it the depth of the water the oysters can have a different flavor now I'm on a mission to see how farmers raise the Eastern oyster a high-end delicacy for some oh my God and a complete nightmare for others every year some people die from eating oysters that are raw is that [Music] correct how important is oyster farming to Virginia it's essential it's a core staple coming out of the region meet Tom former bro colge kid turned fanatic oyster preneur today he'll show me the entire oyster rearing process from Farm to Mount Virginia is the top three oyster producers in the country the ches bay is one of the largest bodies of water that houses oysters in the world the Chesapeake Bay is the USA's largest Estuary where the river meets the sea it crosses Six States including Virginia it's Unique blend of fresh water and saltwater creates a dynamic nutrient-rich environment perfect for raising the highest grade of oysters in the world but how does the oyster raising process begin so everything starts with the nursery correct can we check that out first absolutely let's do it this is oyster seed Holdings and this is owner researcher Mike oysters have a two-part life cycle they have a laral phase first and then the adult phase second inside in the Hatchery is where we do all the larval work once they get big enough we can get them out of larval culture and put them into a setting process that allows them to get through metamorphosis once we get them through metamorphosis they kind of get kicked out of the Hatchery out here where Mother Nature's Prov providing all the food and we'll put them into these tanks and flow lots of water past them so these are all little baby oysters they are at this stage these tiny babies are ready to be shipped out to Farmers like Tom who will grow them to full size over a matter of years all right so we've seen the nursery but from here we're going to see how you cultivate the oysters right here in the ocean let's go see it so right now we've just entered the oyster field there are a lot more Pelicans than I expected I think that could be a side business Pelican meat this is my second time being to an oyster Farm the first time was actually in Vietnam and let me tell you it was quite a bit different in Vietnam they have these giant wood lates made from bamboo from the lates they have some strings or ropes suspended that the oysters are then connected to and you can kind of pull them up in clumps this is completely different what's different about what we do is we are raising these oysters at the surface of the water column where the food is the most plentiful the first 18 in is where the most light penetration is and the most water flow is so there's more algae available when you suspend them the further you get into the water column the less algae you're going to have so we're about to pull this one up what's going to be inside here these are going to be our oysters that we put out at 1/4 in that was about 90 days ago so let's pull them up and see what they look like Tom exclusively Farms East Coast native oysters you can help guide that on okay yeah that side's on that and we're up we also could have used the crane like what what are we thinking here you know we got to use our backs I thought this was a sailboat these five vals have the special ability to filter and clean 50 gallons of water each day absorbing nutrients from algae and Plankton can you look in there oh wow in these nutrient-rich Waters they can grow from a/4 in to this in as short as 90 days when these went in initially they were just big enough to not come out of this net yes exactly but these are still the little babies these are tiny some oysters blessed with good jeans can grow at shocking speeds this bag also contains 90-day old oysters but some have already reached their midstage of development so these are quite a bit bigger and actually some of them look like they're fully grown I would call that a market oyster you might think that managing thousands of oysters all growing and maturing at different speeds would be quite a logistical Challenge and it might be unless you have one of these Tom's very own processing facility once a bag of oysters fills up it's brought here the oysters are being carried up this Hopper and they're being broken down into three sizes so we have the first drop second drop and the third drop the first and second drop are much further away the market size the third drop is very close to Market every oil here is categorized according to size then you put it back in the me bag with similar oysters of the same size throw it back in the water correct on average an oyster makes five round trips between this tumbler and the water and eventually they plump up to their full adult size now they're ready to be shucked and eaten alive this is quite a bit bigger than the other ones we just saw from Nursery to becoming this size how long is that 18 to 24 months that's an incredible amount of effort it's actually relatively fast for the industry up in Canada sometimes those oysters take up to 4 years to get the yeah but Canadians that's right we demand Excellence here in the United States He wedges the knife in there gets leverage on it you want to cut that adductor muscle off the top thr that boy overboard show the other oysters what's up and then you get a nice meaty succulent bad boy right there eat a raw nothing on at the start but then we'll go into the other stuff mean nothing on it this is full of sea water so you drink all the liquid too oh yeah absolutely [Music] electrolytes so good mhm okay it was overwhelming at first is a lot to handle salty blast griny but the meat has a nice bite to it it didn't feel slimy it's interesting cuz it's not cold it's not chilled but Super Fresh right out of the water overall I'm impressed I like it let's put some stuff on it now all right let's do it so we're putting some sauce on it what do you got here so this is a little Le ocean fish sauce from my mysterious friend who lives like an hour and a half north of me well you had me at Le ocean sauce I'm sold already a little bit of lemon cheers that's the ticket it's like an Asian Tabasco spicy lots of powerful flavors o that is really nice you know if folks haven't been to an oyster bar it's kind of this different versions of oysters mixed with booze we got a little bit of champagne I mean yeah he brought a freaking Katana all right he looked up how to do this on Chachi PT ready hey doesn't get any better than that it baby this something you guys do a lot with new guests coming from Vietnam absolutely we have the oyster with caviar it's a type of caviar I've not seen before this is from trout smokes trout [Music] row mhm nice little bite on yeah those eggs are nice they just pop every time you bite into it a little explosion oily and a wonderful mix with that Briny oyster I don't know I feel like I just made out with aeriel let's wash it down with some champagne cheers the [Music] Ariel I can get used to this so this is all you do basically this is it this is the life people think farming is hard it's not it's so simple how long have people been farming versus just going out and trying to get wild oysters the cultivation of wild oyers has been happening since the beginning of time humans have been trying to farm them in some way they send a whole bunch of boats out bring them back to Shore and just leave them there and they can have this plentiful oyster that they can just kind of go back to whenever they want so these oysters where do these head from here everything is sold nationally so you can go on our website whone oysters. comom and buy oysters and we ship anywhere in the country I love seeing how different ingredients are sourced that's kind of what this whole series is all about but from here I'm going to see where these ingredients end up I think I've had almost every type of bony that exists in Vietnam never with oysters and that is happening [Music] next remember oyster scientist Mike that's a 2mm oyster just last year his team at oyster seed Holdings opened a food truck serving an Innovative Oyster menu sourced from the very fers they Supply these look incredible what are they flavored with but before I get too excited there is one possible catch the rarely spoken of seafood bacteria that kills dozens of Americans each year some say that oysters are dangerous what can you do here to prevent people from suffering negative consequences from eating this delicious food yeah I I I appreciate the question I'd love to elaborate it on let's start with the eating part start by popping open the oyster shells and throwing them on the grill now create three different flavors with three different Butters we have a Chipotle bourbon butter a sweet chili and garlic a little bit of white wine in there oh white wine I like that Scott The Mastermind behind this food truck crafted a perfect menu for lab visitors to savor a satisfying meal following their exploration of the oyster Hatchery after just a few minutes the butter bomb melts drowning each patch of protein in pure flavor I want to try the garlic one first and you just dump the whole thing back we do all right here we [Music] go on up so good oh man the oysters here are incredible these obviously buttery garlicky incredible flavor and the texture the bite changes when you cook it up a bit like a little bit more dense and not at all slimy yeah and the ches Peake Bay region has been huge in oysters for centuries what is so special about this place you know oysters take on the taste of the place that they are if you're really close to the ocean oysters can be really salty when you get away from the ocean and get a lot of freshwat input into these Rivers you get lots of kind of sweet flavors that blend into that salty flavor speaking of salty what is this one again Sweet Chili so good oh my God it's buttery a little bit sweet not too much of a kick from the chili very nice oh they're all just so rich and delicious these are some of the best oysters I've ever had one of the reasons that we serve oysters this way is that we're trying to kind of convert people to Oyster eaters and we were talking about maybe doing a pork Bon meat and real realized that maybe an oyster Bon Me would be the way to go well it's not going to take much to convince me to try a bon me so kick off this recipe by mixing shooked oysters with eggs and cun seasoning strut the mixture through a SI to ditch any excess egg Goo now coat the oysters in a frying batter fortified with cun seasoning once fully coated give them a Sizzle now for our Carby vessel throw the Bon Me On The Griddle to toast it up fill it up with Crispy oysters pickled daon pickled carrots cantro and pickled onions and finally a special creamy house sauce to tie everything together I think I've had almost every type of Boni that exists in Vietnam never with oysters let's give it a [Music] shot this is awesome super crunchy a nice Tang from those how pickled vegetables who knew OES man SC new you season the breading that goes on top of it right I'm just one me by the texture it's meaty and honestly my first guest wouldn't even be oyster if you just gave it to me and I had a blind taste test action some people may be apprehensive to try oysters because of the texture but I've heard people out there who are afraid for their safety vibriosis is an infection primarily transmitted to humans through the consumption of raw seafood especially oysters every year there are casualties some people die from eating oysters I assume that are raw is that correct you correct in the USA the disease claims the lives of 100 people each year so my question is what can people do or what can you do here to prevent people from suffering negative consequences from eating this delicious food I think the oyster industry is a very safe way to get your food one of the things that's super important is getting oysters cold so vibo is something that typically happens in the summer months as long as you get the Shell stock down to temperature very quickly then there's nothing to worry about at all you can eat them raw you can e them cooked doesn't matter anybody who knows that they might have some type of amuno compromised condition should definitely avoid raw shellfish same as you should avoid other types of raw food and I mean there's actually more es and deaths from eating raw vegetables than there are from eating raw shellfish oh wow hold on how many people die a year just from choking on food number of deaths due to choking in the United States in 2021 5,000 people more people are dying from choking on an oyster than from the actual bacteria that it may contain it's an unfortunate but very rare C gentlemen this was incredible thank you so much appreciate you coming just 72 mil from the ocean in Virginia's capital of Richmond we'll see what oyster magic can be worked in a full-size kitchen with top shelf ingredients in this historic Metropolis where the food seat mirrors the diversity of its residents we find ourselves at a restaurant known as Boat House you know just when I think I can't eat oysters any other way I see this and it looks amazing this restaurant nestled in a repurposed 1860s power plant offers a stunning setting and serves up the finest locally sourced Cuisine these specific oysters are Chapel Creek interesting thing is Chapel Creek doesn't have proper Refrigeration to hold oysters overnight so they just drive the hour and 15 minutes and we have the freshest oysters in town for our first course the oysters are shooked then lavished with a thick Hol in day sauce give them a quick toast in the pizza oven our Chef created this as a Christmas Eve feature last year then to dial up the extravagance add a delicate sprinkle of [Music] caviar oh my god oh yeah a little salt from the caviar beautiful creamy sauce kind of a lemon finish and there's just like no brininess to it I'm a guy who can enjoy some brownness but that is delicious it's creamy I feel like I'm eating a seafood version of eggs benedict that's a good analogy this oyster really reminds me of something I've had in Vietnam now in Vietnam they like to put cheese on the oyster melt it and then they eat it like that this to me tastes like a slightly more refined version of that where it's not necessarily cheesy but really creamy kind of coats your mouth and that taste stays with it's excellent right here we have the Rockefeller these oysters are a staple of this region the Rockefeller presentation I think it was invented in Anan in New Orleans let's start with the Rockefeller mix in a sizzling frying pan they melt butter then toss in onion celery and garlic pour in heavy cream and add cayenne pepper black pepper and a healthy dose of Parmesan cheese so this is a classic presentation we did not make this up and they should taste really lovely as it thickens introduce spinach then Ladle this Rockefeller concoction over the oysters sprinkle on crispy bacon bits and finally give it a few minutes under high [Music] heat [Music] M that bacon is crunchy it's a perfect crch to go with that really Ender oyster it's slightly heavy slightly Briney and so the flavors of the bacon is oyster are really intermingling well that's excellent that's really incredible I'm from Minnesota it's not a seafood State we have a Red Lobster that's it but here we're very close to the ocean is this a place where people take pride in Seafood I think we're spoiled because we have great Seafood it's easily accessible you know we have high expectations for and we really take pride in who delivers it and the freshness of it and how it looks gentlemen this is incredible the food is incredible and I love what you've done here thank you very much thank you very much for your time our East Coast Seafood tour is taking us all the way down to South Carolina here you'll find the USA's most valuable most popular seafood I didn't realize that the way you catch it actually affects the texture and the flavor our day begins on St Helena Island a place perhaps best known for its connection to gulla culture we are different kind of people we tend to show up stand up and speak up language good morning good morning why I got to say day clean and of course Gull of food how would you convince somebody that they should try the tale of an ox but who are the gullam and how has their history shaped food in the USA the answers all start on the water groupers oysters and blue crabs in South Carolina are any Chef's dream yet the creek shm steals the show using the craft passed down by his father and grandfather 72-year-old Mr Atkins has been shrimping for the better part of his life my dad used to make a net hand thrown net when you're dealing with the kind of shrimp I deal with you have to try to keep it alive and when you pull a troll net you stresses the shrimp out it die a lot faster and it D this it get mushy the brown and white shrimp harvested from the Region's shallow brackish waters are among the world's finest has anything changed over time when it comes to shrimping one time I could take this nit right here and I go for 3 or 4 hours and I'll have this thing here full now I luy if I get it I about a port or that so what are the regulations surrounding shrimp so that 10 years from now there are still shrimp remaining they have a certain season that they allow you to shrimp sometime like in an April T about November mid November only allow to today Mr Atkins Harvest is set to create a hearty breakfast I've had grits before but not like this some alluring street food I don't think that I've ever had shark meat in the USA and a grand Feast that will feed eight this is something I've been missing in my life it all kicks off with BJ in his combat kitchen BJ yes sir good morning good morning good morning I got say day clean oh is that part of gulla language this was one of the phrases in the culture new day Sunrise meet BJ a personal chef caterer and torch bearer of gulla Heritage he actively Works to bring his culture and traditions to the Forefront through his social media and culinary skills including the Mastery of crafting the perfect shrimp and grits our shrimp has a distinct flavor you know like they're nice they're tender they're sweet they're I've tasted shrimp from the golf up to Florida Keys but these are special after cleaning the shrimp BJ throws them into a skillet with some fat and lets them Sizzle until the meat is firm when I was with Mr Atkins I learned a couple things about shrimp he said if you stress it out too much it's going to be mushy it's going to be bad well right now they seem very calm he adds onion a pinch of salt even more fat and two generous scoops of Ro N I just use water because coming up my family grandparents anybody I knew with this water the shrimp kind of gives you that body that you're looking for like the old people say you make your own gravy you make your own gravy oh it makes own gravy hey I'm getting better at this I didn't know there was a whole different language here that's wild he reunites the shrimp with the gravy and garnishes the dish with scallions next to the skillet a bubbling pot of grits is seasoned with salt and butter well you in the Low Country this is the region where shrim of grits we say originated so for me the Grits that you see here they got to be old school heirloom grits the way my parents my grandparents would eat grits you know the corn they would gry corn they would have took it to the mill and stone ground it can't be the stuff out the store that takes 15 to 20 minutes these took literally an hour but when you taste them man they're like fluffy they're heirloom old schoth amazing gentlemen this looks amazing what do you think of this beautiful well hold on before we started rolling you said a little bit too dark this gave work for the shrimp but it be better for what it was an or okay it looks great to me I ain't going to fuss with [Music] them that's good B that's nice oh it's steaming hot too just right out of the pan the texture of the Grits is really incredible yeah it's fluffy the shrimp outstanding great texture and then this just beautiful thick Savory gravy on top this is so addictive but is so heavy you know this is one of those meals that back in the days probably before my time when people still living off the land this is your fuel this your heavy meal for the morning right just to get your day going this is probably your heaviest meal in those days I don't know if I would make it away from The Breakfast Table after eating this it's like either I'm going to have enough energy for a whole day or I'm just going to fall asleep with my face on my plate with this breakfast I'm just beginning to scratch the surface of gulla culture but by Day end BJ plans to immerse me in the essence of gulla food this Gull when you see this right here in order to fully embrace it my first step is to learn more about the story of this community this area was one of the first areas where one of the first slave revolts happened and many of our ancestors were sought after in the sambia region you know Sagal Gambia seron Congo Mali in the 1700s West Africans were brought to the sea Islands for Plantation labor yet harsh conditions and prevalent diseases LED land owners to Desert the islands in summer and when they left all the enslaved here they were able to to kind of hold on to a lot of the africanisms some of the language and some of the food ways you also have influence of the Native Americans here also too and you also have the European influence too and that just kind of made it into the gulla culture the vibrant gulla culture still pulses today in this tight-knit South Carolina community of 200,000 St Helena is the heart of the centuries old culture cradling a landmark iconic to gulla history Pen Center and the community goes hand in hand without pen send you want have the community there I'll soon join Community leaders for an old-fashioned shrimp boil history where it started right here with this dish but first I have more to learn about gulla food and there's no better place to be educated than the gulla Express Sherry I brought you some shrimp thank [Music] you Sherry is the proud owner and operator of gulla Express a food truck bringing authentic gulla flavors to the people of St Helena with these freshly caught shrimp she'll whip up her besteller this Patty looks gorgeous but first Sherry teases my appetite with the surprise right here we have shark shark I don't think that I've ever had shark meat in the USA what is the history behind this you know we live on the coast so we get a lot of fresh seafood and I grew up eating shark ever since I've been a little girl you would fry it you would put it in gravy on grits however here the shark meat is simply coated with flour then deep fried what do you like about shark in particular The Taste the texture it's just meat I don't have to pick any bone I'm used to that now no cuz I live in Asia right here you can see this is kind of the midsection of the shark and it was hacked into kind of a shark steak I'm going to rip that in half there's like the bone in the middle there still but everything around it is this beautiful meat M oh man that's to die for it's juicy flaky you got a little bit of crust on the outside and then just a little hit of seasoning salt sometimes shark can be mushy if you overdo it this is perfect yeah it has to be cut right if it's not cut right then it's going to be tough with over 25 years of culinary experience Sherry embarked on a new Venture in 2019 by launching gulla Express here she's infused the menu with gulla Classics that have been given a little bit of a Twist her bestseller the shrimp burger after cleaning the shrimp Cherry places them in a processor minting the meat down for a shrimp Patty I'm going to add some crab I don't need a whole lot we were always doing a shrimp burger so I wanted to do something different that's when I said well let me try the shrimp and crab burger and that would be something different you know people never had before so I tried it out and it was a big hit and I just went with that I'm going to need some seasoning I'm going to also add a little bit of breadcrumb and I'm going to mix that up some more now I have to taste it I taste it raw because you have to know that it's seasoned you don't want to buy something and it has no taste and after that I just make it into a ball I'm going to put it in the batter in the flour batter and I'm going to roll it around in there and then I'm going to mash it out that about 3 to 4 minutes and it'll be ready this Patty looks gorgeous that's why I don't want to put any lettuce or tomato or it takes away away from The Taste if you want a salad get a salad this is not that this is like a beautiful lovely Patty it's crusty on the outside I can feel the heat rting off it it's making the Buns more soft and warm on the outside let's go for [Music] it m that's very nice I don't think that I've ever had a shrimp burger in the US the only time I've had it is in McDonald's in Korea and Japan they have a shrimp burger it wishes it was this that's like a very basic industrial it's probably pressed by some kind of meat printing machine this has this incredible homemade feel to it and it has it's like those little imperfections that make it perfect some parts are a little thicker some are a little thin and more crunchy and there's a certain springiness that you get from a shrimp Patty that you won't get from any other type of you're not going to get it from chicken or beef it's really unique to what you're doing here it's my number one seller m i see why that's awesome I want to back up a little bit and ask you more about gulla food for you what is gulla food well to me gulla food is anything you get you can't waste it period like we would cook with neck bone pigtail anything from hog anything from chicken that's what we would use are called our gulla food sounds like a tenant of gulla cooking is resourcefulness exactly with the Atlantic Ocean nearby gulla Cuisine significantly relies on Seafood complemented by staple ingredients like rice and grits rooted in historical cultivation practices it's just simple cooking you don't have to put a spin on like you got shrimp and grits most of the time the restaurant they're a little fancy they put a these parmesan seasoning and onions and bacon no shrimp and grits is just shrimp and grits I think I had that this morning that's it over time gulla flavors and techniques have made their Mark in kitchens Across America with one pot dishes and cast tired cookware being prominent examples you'll soon witness some one pot cooking in our final meal I've never seen oxtail with shrimp for us That's a classic par the first in our two course Feast is a gulla one pot classic Frogmore stool DJ prepares a soup base in a giant pot with water garlic powder old Bas seasoning salt hot crab seasoning fresh onion and chilies once the seasoned water is boiling he tosses in chunks of corn and potatoes then sausage joins the pot and finally the [Music] shrimp while BJ is busy in his outdoor kitchen I'm heading inside Pen Center School where Marie walks me through the history of this Landmark Pen Center and the community goes hand in hand without Pen Center you w have the community and it started out as the Port Royal experiment the outbreak of Civil War in 1860 placed St Helena Island under Union control leading to the initiation of the Port Royal experiment in 1861 this experiment aiming to transition the region from a slave dependent Society to one rooted in Freedom brought emancipation to St hel in 1863 Abraham Lincoln signed Eman ipation Proclamation free and all other enslaved people as you can see we were already emancipated before the document was signed we are different kind of people we tend to show up stand up and speak up in 1862 the Port Royal experiment entitled the newly emancipated people here with the right to buy former Plantation lands at low prices and with land ownership comes great power there was never ever a share crer system established on S helness Island furthermore the experiment led to the establishment of hospitals and schools pen school opened in 1862 as one of the nation's earliest institutions for the formerly enslaved this school was the Beacon of Hope and educating the black people in the Low Country this was the only School a black person living in the state of South Carolina could earn a high school diploma today Pen Center is a cultural center and a museum of African-American history where Marie and her colleagues tirelessly uphold and showcase the richness of gulla culture culture that can be seen and even tasted before we begin I do want to say thank you to everyone for being here today it's quite an honor for me to kind of eat a piece of history today and I've learned a lot already about the G of people and food and my favorite way to learn is through eating so this is a low country boil some people call a frog more stew actually this originated here on this out I'm going to go for this corn first you said that the corn is kind of soaked up yeah soaked a little too much than what I like but it's flavorful mhm it got a little cake it's delicious it's super salty it has a lot of cake a load of cayenne this is like Cayenne corn all right we got potatoes oh my God everything has soaked up those amazing flavors even that sausage is spicy it's slow burn that creeps up on you I think the flavor is just a beautiful mix a blend between what the shrimp is offering and this powerful sausage and salty and smoky it's like a homemade sausage to me we to make back then we butcher a pig we to make our own sausages old time sausage so I want to ask about the shrimp are you eating the shell or are you peeling that yourself peeling it okay they taste amazing I'm curious for this dish why cook it with the shells on Traditions always how been I think it also helps preserve the flavor people boil shells for shrimp stock you know what else it helps helps people to pump their brakes a little bit when they're eating take your time right it turns like a 5-minute meal into a 30-minute meal our second one pot dish and final gulla Taste of the day oxtail soup first BJ brings his pre-made broth to a boiler I woke up in the then he drops his oxtails with various beans and the broth and lets them simmer how did the cuisine or the food of the people transform from the time that go came here to what we see today we basically cook the same thing that we did back then the inlay people always had the leftovers from the pig the feet the tail and the neckbones those that we cooked now and the okra is our main dish anything here whatever you have for dinner that was breakfast at lunch I was taking crab sandwiches for lunch and I was ashamed to have that you yeah when you younger because that wasn't the norm back then every Bo was having their peanut butter and jelly I had crab that's pretty good though yeah but being here you didn't think that because that was pled for you ate that so much you know I then he had to take the lunch too so you know that was you know I'm tired of this I wanted something else you know once the oxtail hits the desired softness BJ loads the pot with chopped o he stirs until the broth becomes thick and finishes with a handful of shrimp not lay me down to sleep all right I got some of that gravy I got a shrimp some rice it's so heartwarming hit with some of that oxtail oh the oxtail amazing super soft tender delicious Savory and just such a cool texture to that Stew cuz it's thick but it's also it's a little bit slimy from the oak Ro but in the best way possible you see with oxtail here these were the leftover from the slavery time where the enslave people ate but now oxtail has crossed over it was only that the black folks ate that I went to store man this white lady had about six packs of lock sale in a basket you know long time ago that was $2 a pound now was like $89 $10 a pound and these were the things that were you thought as trash but culturally even before I Robot here they ate every part of animal to this day that's still a thing this is like culture like this speaks gulla when you see this right here for both of you i' be happy to hear your answer too why is it so important to continue teaching people about the go traditions and perpetuating these traditions because the Legacy that we want to pass on to our children it may be become a time that you won't have anything in the stores you can always go back and learn how to survive up the land and that's how we've we've learned to we were isolated out here so we had to learn to survive of the land so what happened on the other side didn't matter to us because we were independent self-sufficient people living over here you have to understand like it's not this one culture that built this country yeah absolutely you know the way we talk the language you know these things that we have to embrace or you lose part of History not only you lose part of your culture you part of American history and it's a very important part of American History how do you reconcile America's dark history dark past with slavery with still having pride in your community and your country now the history of this country is a movement toward freedom and African-Americans have been big movers and trying to bring freedom to everybody so this whole idea about when we benefit the whole country benefits every Community can benefit from our movement forward in this continuing journey of Freedom when people freed themselves on this island in 1861 they didn't look back and say wow we've been through something really terrible they looked forward and said what can we be you know how can we project ourselves and be big against the backdrop of life and every Community everybody of every race needs to take that off you know how can we be big not be small but be [Music] big now we've worked our way South all the way down to the Florida Keys jeez Dolphins there's like three dolphins behind you that looks awesome the sunshine state is Heaven for seafood lovers from swordfish to mahi mahi and everything in between but next we're after one of this state's most highly regulated underwater dwellers if you take the whole body onto land that is a criminal offense that is illegal that is something you cannot do that's correct along the way we'll settle the debate of which is truly Superior between the main lobster and the Florida lobster with my friend googa there's no comparison it's oh my God sorry you're triggering me it all starts bright and early on the water it's a beautiful morning I got to say it'sing miserable out here right now we're heading out to the trapping area a couple hours off the coast it's pretty Chompy out here my camera guys are about to puke at any second it's a little uh sporty sometimes that's a more positive way to spin it meet Paul a seasoned 25e commercial fisherman he heads out to sea with his crew throughout the year and they catch whatever's in season ranging from spear fish and spiny Lobster to the much awaited stone crab what is the season for stone crab cuz that's why we're here from October 15th till May 1st so oh wow there's like three dolphins behind you that looks awesome i' take videos all the time for my kids you know seamen back in the past they saw dolphins and they thought they were hot mermaids you ever think a dolphin's a hot mermaid uh no the Florida stone craft able to grow up to 6 in wide can be found in the western North Atlantic including the USA's East Coast these crabs primarily feed on oysters mollusks and a range of crustations what's really unique about the stone crab is the fact that if you take the whole body onto land that is a criminal offense that's correct we can only harvest the cloth let's pull up some crabs and see how it works sounds good regulations have been implemented to safeguard the stone crab population ensuring that this valuable marine life can continue sustainably for future generation first trap is up he pops it open let's see what's inside it looks pretty good all right three crabs those crabs go in the bin here there you go oh this one only has one clock either somebody harvested him or he lost it in a fight with another crab and we measure him they have to be 2 and 7/8 in long or more or more and then you're going to crack them right here and then we release the crab alive back to the wild as long as they're big enough the males we take all the claws yes for females it's highly illegal to remove their claws if they're bearing eggs the females have a wider piece right here compared to a male when resetting the traps back into the ocean an enticing bait is essential but instead of oysters or crustations they opt for an unconventional Choice Pig seat it's one of the most sustainable base that we can get people in Vietnam are horrified right now that you're feeding the pigs feet to crabs actually with these pigs feet it's only the hind feet oh the front feet get processed and do get shipped overseas on a good day PA and his crew can collect up to 600 lb of stone crab cloths amounting to roughly 2500 pieces me me to have a does PETA care about this or people upset that you're breaking the arms off like a humane way yeah are people mad you're not giving them anesthesia first I'm sure there's somebody out there but there's always somebody like many crustations stone crabs have a remarkable ability to regenerate their claws this regrowth can take anywhere from 1 to 3 years I think we're in luck oh my God that's huge to once again reach a legally harvestable size like this big however this regeneration is only possible if the claws are removed correctly okay let me do this a flawed removal can fatally wound the crab causing it to bleed to death I know you're mad but soon you're going to be mad and also not have arms mad germ first oh I almost broke the lock cuz I don't think he makes it oh my God no no first of all let's check if it's a boy or a girl this is a boy we're going to measure that one if it touches it's legal these are both legal those are both legal to take and then I just twist twist down and if I do it wrong am I going to rip it in half you could yeah oh you did it I got it I'm sorry got it you look ridiculous at least he can go back and reproduce that'll be for the next generation of crabs now but here's the thing if I was a lady crab I'm not going to reproduce with a dude with no claws he's going to have to work a little harder at it throw him right into the water there we go it's quite common for a crab to lose and regenerate a claw or two throughout its lifetime yet this loss can significantly impact a crab's odds of survival according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission a crowd with two claws removed had a 46 to 82% mortality rates while the crowd with its claws intact only had a 12% likelihood of dying no doubt this is a challenging job you got to get up early you come out here in the 12s and the waves is choppy my camera guy threw up already here's some footage of that this is probably the most expensive Seafood you can find in Florida why is it so expensive it's a lot of work to get out here you got to see we got to battle the elements long hours the gear is expensive it's a labor of love to have to come out here to do it back in the 1890s these Stone crafts were considered merely incidental by catch in traps meant for spiny lobsters but by the late 20th century the stone crab fishery had evolved into one of Florida's most lucrative Industries valued at $30 million oh H from the docks we're headed to a seafood processing facility where we'll soon see 400 lb of live Florida lobster get steamed all at once are they alive when they go in yeah but not for [Music] long this place is crucial the Journey of the stone crab claws going from sea to Plate Jason hi Sunny this place is amazing you ever get to make a wish kid coming through here no we have not they are not making good choices I think uh they're not all there the moment the boat docks the stone crab claws are weighed and whisked Away to he have you ever heard of somebody bringing a whole crab body onto land and getting in trouble for that I certainly have what happened at BC Fisheries they have their stone crap cloths sorted into four distinct sizes then sent off to a giant steamer if you get caught doing that you can lose your boat you can lose your licenses you can lose all your traps and were they ever allowed to go fish again once that happens you usually receive a lifetime ban and then where do you move because here's the thing in the USA once you're a convict or a criminal you move to Florida unfortunately if you make that mistake if you're already in Florida and you become a criminal where the hell do you go I guess you got to find a new home Arizona there you go yeah the entire process is designed to be Swift ensuring the meat doesn't [Applause] spoil once steamed the claws are rapidly transferred to another container where they're buried in ice to help the cooking process in a week how many pounds of just crab claws do you think you have coming through here 15 to 20,000 lb but before there sent out to local restaurants and wholesalers across Florida they must be sorted by grade let's go through the size category the smallest is medium we don't have a small no small it's like movie theater popcorn correct and we have large and we have jumbo and colossal something like this in a restaurant any idea how much that would cost anywhere from the range of about $65 up to $90 depending on the place that is mind blowing you better bring your checkbook yeah no kidding you will not be disappointed though fortunately our next stop features a deal not to be missed and all you can eat Stone Crab Claw Feast for $120 and the best part my friend gooa will be there to share in the experience thanks for having me son but before that I'm setting out to sample another Seafood Delight that Florida is famous for you guys also specialized in other types of seafood I'm very interested in this spiny Lobster because we started this journey in Maine with the main lobster it was big beautiful red it has claws spiny lobsters rank as the second biggest commercial fishery in Florida and they're protected by law in the USA to help maintain their population I need to also try the spiny Lobster and judge for myself which I think is the superior Lobster you'll be the judge of that would it be okay to steam like 400 lb worth I think we can make that happen similar to the stone own crab claws this vat of hundreds of spiny lobsters will soon face the same fate plunging into brutal steamy temperatures cooking their meat and transforming their shells into a bright orange Hue after a thorough steaming they need to stop the cooking process so they cold chock it in ice water that's going to stop the meat from cooking they're beautiful they're orange they're radiant they're bright they're beautiful I said beautiful twice and I meant it each time step one give it a little chiropractic treatment oh my Lord there's so much goo and stuff in there that's how you fresh there's some green tamale right here on the edge I want to get this whole tail out of here that's why I have a knife don't cut your hand don't go to the hospital don't go to every time I go to USA I go to the hospital last time I shot myself in the head dude I got jacked up boom there we go and look at that automatically Dev vain if someone tells you that does something special you know fertility it's an aphrodesiac don't believe them that I did a pretty bang up job I got my whole thing right here I'm going to go from the back and try it out here we [Music] go mhm the temperature really affects the texture and the flavor to me so with it being colder it feels a little bit more dense slightly more chewy in general I prefer a warmed up Lobster but this is still very nice it's juicy it's sweet it's succulent it's got a strong bite to it I mean who doesn't like lobster it's good but the question isn't about is it good question is which is better between this and a main lobster and I'm going to tell you soon what I meet up with my good friend googa at Billy's Stone Crab with some of the biggest freshest crab claws plucked straight from the ocean floor this morning we're headed to the best seafood spot in the Sunshine State soon we'll bite into a colossal and find out if these claws are worth all the hype put it there how you doing pleasure Carlos the menu features a range of the seafood Florida is known for but their bestseller the item 75% of patrons are after the reigning champion of the deep the stone crab how much stone crab you think could go through in a week man thousands of pounds but it's a pricey item I mean this is something you got to save your allowance for week put on the American Express card you could do that you could go into Dent Americans do love that the average person how many are they ordering are they getting one claw only are they getting a plate of claws a lot of people get the all you can eat how much is all you can eat $120 per person for medium that's incredible let's talk about what I'm going to be trying out tonight the Seafood Tower coming in at more money than $120 how much is the Seafood Tower $550 and what does it include you'll get a dozen oysters you get jumbo Lum crap meat our beautiful colossal stone crabs or jumbo the Florida lobster tails and then King crab steam right on top this sounds amazing I'm very excited I'm happy to be here thank you so much it's a pleasure man the Seafood Tower arrives as a three- tiered man-made Marvel on the first layer a dozen raw oysters elegantly nestled on a chilly bed of ice and kale with a central bow brimming with jumbo lump crab meat their second tier showcases today's highlight six colossal sized stone crab claws adjacent to the centerpiece four spiny lobster tails and finally crowning the third tier for robust king crab legs such a feast isn't meant for one it's an absolute pleasure Michael you've been here for a bit how long you been here 20 years and how long's the restaurant been here it's around 46 that's a pretty good chunk of time googa you're here it's a pleasure to dine with you thanks for having me on camera googa is a maestro of meats in the host of googa foods and S eat everything the man knows beef like the back of his hand but what about Seafood my very first video on YouTube on googa Foods was actually about Lobster spiny lobers to be specific I tried that earlier today we'll talk about that soon sure this is the end of a long series we started in Maine about an hour from Canada all the way down the East Coast trying out different Seafoods that this beautiful country has to offer and it's ending here in Florida which some might consider to be the seafood capital of the USA 100% what comes to mind when you think Seafood in Florida well one of the main things that come to mind of course the stone crabs they're a delicacy that's only in season 7 months a year I hate to say like this but it's like a drug good kind of drug one thing I was told coming to Florida is that if I'm going to try seafood I have to try grouper that's what in front of us right now yes black groupers are commonly found in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Ocean they must be at least 22 in to land but they can reach up to 52 in and a whopping 180 lb it is my favorite fish by the way next to Hogfish you ever had Hogfish I've never had Hogfish what never oh my God that's a good one huh we don't get it often but when we get it it sells right away I got to try Hogfish but let's try this crappy grouper first I'm just kidding first sprinkle salt and pepper on the butter soaked grouper fillet it sizzles as it hits the pan with with hot oil de glaze the fillet with white wine adding more butter and Thyme then give it a moment alone in the oven lay the fish on top a generous Mount of jumbo lump crab Meats Crown it with jumbo shrimp and a few slices of avocado drizzle the creation with burlon a Rich Blend of white wine lemon and butter and finish with a Sprinkle of micro greens oh wow wow that is delicious everybody that's really good it's got a nice bite to it it's flaky but it doesn't just fall apart into nothing it's a thick flaky fish mhm this is cooked beautifully and the fish the ingredient itself to begin with is magnificent it's got bite to it and it's light so this isn't a cow and that's okay maybe it's the cow of the sea Son by the way I saw one of those I saw a manatee today I wanted to jump on its back so badly no Sunny you cannot do that I don't hope that anymore sorry my bad yeah we don't want to do that everybody you get in big trouble this undoubtedly excellent but I've not had grouper yet on my trip this is my first grouper I have nothing to compare it to so far on this trip I've had two lobsters I had Main lster and the Spy Lobster here in Florida now for me unequivocally I would have to say I love the main lobster why one of the best parts of a main lobster are the cloths the claws are soft succulent and juicy they're even softer than the tail meat they're perfect for a lobster roll spiny Lobster where are the claws the reason you like The Claw is because the tail the main lobster is not good that's the opposite from the Florida lobster which details is better and also it's sometimes way too sweet on the main lobster oh my god I've never heard heard someone call Seafood too sweet Michael tiebreaker honestly I like the Florida lobster I love the taste of Florida lobster the guy that don't like seafood saying that you don't like flid lobster right here we have some chilled stone crab claws now I have been working hard all day damn get to this moment right here please my friend did you catch this yourself it's been a long day let me tell you I woke up at 5:00 a.m. I was on a boat somebody on my team threw up here's footage of that again he's right behind me that must been a lot of fun should we start with knuckle I mean I always start with KN where's the mustard this is the mustard sauce that's our famous mustard no butter no mayonnaise mustard cheers mhm wow it's delicious huh gentlemen wow it took my breath away that is amazing I can't believe you caught it these boys were swimming yesterday these were alive wait they're still alive wait hold on yes they are that's what I learned today so are you telling me that this is the only animal you can eat it twice potentially for decades 3 years later the claws they could get this big again so it's the gift that keeps on giving 100% now listen mustard that was nice the meat itself it's got a nice firmness to it a wonderful texture a great bite slightly sweet slightly sweet but not too sweet for googa here so we tried the mustard I say I say we dunk into butter son oh my God cheers buddy cheers brother I know be the but is so good undeniable everything's better with butter absolutely reflecting back on this trip so far I've learned a lot I'm from Minnesota we have a Red Lobster the end this trip I've learned so much about different regions in these beautiful pockets of America up and down the East Coast I have two major takeaways one is that fishermen work their assets on they're diligent they put in A Hard Day's work and they do it again and again and again it's hard work too it's hard work doesn't matter if it's a good day if it's a bad day they're always there to get their catch and sometimes you get lucky and other times you don't right and they don't have control over the market or what they're going to get paid that day that month or that year I'm very impressed with the fisherman but also with the chefs who choose to take on the challenge of serving Seafood to their customers you got to get the freshest Seafood possible and it has a very narrow shelf life especially if you're looking at stuff like main lobster it's not going to be there forever and they need that to be alive even if it gets to Minnesota or gets to China son out of the entire trip which one was your favorite oh which Seafood yes sir we want to know what stood out the most it's the Florida lobster but just tell me I think a once in a lifetime experience when I was in Maryland I had soft shell crab for the first time it had just shed it shell the night before we put the whole thing in a skillet it was like a sausage stuffed with crab meat it was amazing wo for me I don't think I can replicate that but it's still not better than the Florida lobster I'm sorry boom guys that is the end of video number 6 in the USA the seafood tour is complete we went all the way from basically Canada to basically almost Cuba pretty close huge thank you to googa for coming and hanging out with me tonight for this meal it was a pleasure thanks for having me brother you can find googa at Goa Foods at Goa and at Su everything three different channels there's so much stuff so much food so much entertainment for you to see with my man googa go check it out thank you son otherwise guys that is it for this one thank you so much for watching I will see you next time peace all right should we go outside we can jump off the pier here on the ocean rightster theer to be specific different no you're right

Channel: Best Ever Food Review Show

Views: 3,514,043

Keywords: Best ever food review show, befrs, sonny side, befrs team, food, around the world food and culture, Amazing Seafood Secrets, east coast tour, seafood, exotic food, extreme food, lobster, maine lobster, blue crab, EASTCOAST SEAFOOD USA

Id: O3LX85p-RF0

Length: 106min 44sec (6404 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 24 2024