I’ll be the first to admit, I have
trouble getting in my Omega-3s. I
take a daily supplement, but we all know very well that real food is the best
medicine. Sure, I could add a scoop of ground flaxseed to everything, but who
wants all that grittiness? So,
despite being almost as far away from an ocean as one can possibly get, I
welcome the opportunity to get wild-caught, ethically and responsibly harvested
fish and seafood. Tricky, that;
most seafood and fish in grocery stores is what’s contributing to over-fishing
our finite supply and farming using a variety of questionable and unhealthy
methods.
So…what to do?
I was presented with a solution
from an unlikely corner.
My fair twin cities hosts a
fantastic weekly farmer’s market every Saturday morning in the temperate
months, The Urbana Market at the Square.
Trouble is, that leaves me with fewer options during the week. The answer? Tah-dahh! Enter
the new Land Connection Champaign Farmers’ Market! The first market, from 4-7 p.m. on Tuesdays, was held right in
the center of town. I saw some
familiar faces and products, such as Prairie Fruits Farm’s goat cheeses and
Pekara’s bakery temptations; I also saw some new names that I hadn’t seen
before. The most surprising, of
course, was to see a picture of a fish introducing Sitka Salmon Shares. Now, before you start scratching your
head and consulting Google maps to find out if Illinois has somehow moved
closer to Alaska, I will assure you that salmon is not a local product. But Sitka Salmon Shares operates in the
manner of a local CSA; you buy a share up front, and Sitka will deliver
extraordinary fish, frozen at its peak of freshness, to your door; or, in this
case, to your local market. Yes,
this fish has traveled thousands of miles, but the spirit of a CSA is in the
minds of the company, in the form of a “CSF,” a community-supported
fishery. As quoted from their
website, “In the last 20 years, there has been a growing
consensus that there's something valuable about reestablishing the connections
between eaters and the land for the benefit of both the consumer and the
producer. We do the same for salmon. At Sitka Salmon Shares, all
salmon travel from small boat family fishermen and their cooperatives in
Southeast Alaska to your door.
As expected,
the price tag exceeded what I usually pay for anything at a farmers’
market. Offerings included
everything from King Salmon to Black Cod.
I thought I would start modestly with the Coho Salmon. The color alone persuaded me I wouldn’t
regret the purchase.
I thawed the
salmon overnight in the fridge, then prepared it my favorite way, fried
skin-side-down only, doused in lemon juice and a touch of sea salt. I drizzled a bit of my fancy olive oil
on the top of the rare (OK, so almost raw) fish after it came off the
flame. Served alongside my truly
local roasted asparagus from Claybank Farms, it was a treat well worth the
miles the fish traveled, and the splurge to support a really fantastic product.
This week I may
go back for the King Salmon…
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| My new bag--the perfect size and shape for carrying salmon! |
