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 Wednesday, August 15, 2007 The Return of the Prince In the New England town where I spent my summers there were only two fish worth taking note of—bluefish and striped bass. We never actually purchased either from a fishmonger because my father did all the work for us. He caught them off the Cape Cod coast. We took bluefish for granted. It was good, we ate a lot of it and generally tired of it by the end of the summer. And anyway, they were mean fish with big, sharp teeth. Striped bass, on the other hand, was in a different league. Bass was elegant and cherished —we took notice when it appeared at the summer table. It was a special occasion. And when bass disappeared in the 1980s, due to over fishing and polluted waters, we mourned the loss. Scientists feared we would lose the fish forever and a moratorium was placed on all commercial and sport fishing. Although it seemed that life just wouldn’t be the same, we reluctantly turned our attention to bluefish and moved on. About 4 years ago, however, the prince returned. At first striped bass was only available for a few weeks and it was anticipated like the arrival of a prized Beaujolais Nouveau. The stocks were carefully monitored lest we overwhelm the developing population. It was treated with awe, served carefully and epitomized the height of summer culinary delight. If you added sweet corn and juicy tomatoes to the mix, there was almost nothing more perfect. Every summer I wonder how many different recipes I can make with this simple corn-bass-tomato triumvirate. One recipe that quickly comes to mind is a riff on the “crazy water” or “acqua pazza” common along the Amalfi Coast of Italy. You start with a quick tomato sauce (this is the “crazy water,” crazy because of the slight spice from the chili pepper). Over low heat, cook a couple of chopped cloves of garlic with some minced chili pepper in a generous amount of spicy extra virgin olive oil. As soon as you can smell the garlic cooking, throw in 2 pounds of peeled, seeded and chopped beautiful ripe summer tomatoes. Be sure to season them with salt and pepper. Strip the kernels off 2 super fresh ears of sweet corn. Reserve the kernels and chop each cob into 3 pieces—these will not be wasted, but used to infuse the tomato sauce with some corn flavor. Let the tomatoes stew for a few minutes on their own and then add a glass of white wine, the corn cobs, and 2 cups of water. The tomatoes should be just at a simmer for 45 minutes or so. When done, the sauce should be fairly watery as it will cook again with the fish. If you like, throw in a few fennel seeds and some fresh oregano. Sprinkle 4 pieces of striped bass with salt and pepper. Sear the fish in some olive oil in a sauté pan, skin side down. Flip the fish, add some littleneck clams. Remove the corn cobs and add the tomato sauce. Cover and cook over low heat until the fish is done and the clams have opened. Transfer the seafood to 4 bowls, add the corn kernels and some chopped fresh basil to the pan and cook for 3 minutes or so. Taste and make sure it’s as you like it. Pour the sauce over the fish and serve with some nice rustic bread. That’s just one way to enjoy striped bass, tomatoes and corn. I’ve come up with a few other ideas below:
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