Figuring out first-hand food
If, like me, you are fascinated with cognitive neuroscience, you have undoubtedly been following the research on happiness. Basically, we’re learning that things we think will make us happy don’t, usually. New York Times columnist John Tierney is as taken with all this as I am, and he ran a little experiment a couple years [...]
A note to my readers: I’m very excited to tell you that, as of today, some of my work will also be appearing in the Huffington Post’s food section. This is the first of what I hope to be a long and popular series on First-Hand Food . Uncertainty is the mother of superstition, and getting food [...]
Weirdly, not catching fish doesn’t necessarily make for bad fishing. I’ve been on lots of fishing trips where no fish were landed, yet a good time was had by all. A sunny day, congenial company, and the idea that you’re not home cleaning the bathroom or raking the leaves can make for a fine outing, [...]
Moral philosophy is a sticky wicket. While going through life behaving well isn’t so hard – most moral choices are straightforward – it’s very difficult to reduce “behaving well” to first principles. In general, I’d say I’m a greatest-good-for-the-greatest-number kind of girl, but I fully acknowledge the difficulty of such a far-reaching and enigmatic calculation. [...]
No matter how you slice it, the main point of fishing is to catch fish. It’s all well and good to be out on a boat, with family and friends, on a beautiful day, engaging in a wholesome activity, communing with nature, and all that. But the god’s honest truth is that, without fish, fishing [...]
I’m beginning to think the mark of authenticity is the mess. When I get a lobster in a restaurant, somebody else caught it, a different somebody cooked it, and the only mess I can make involves my shirtfront. (Okay, and my companions, and my hair, but that’s only because I’m a particularly exuberant lobster eater.) [...]
If you’ve ever read anything about bluefish fishing, you’ll know that every single fishing authority, either legitimate or self-styled, professional or amateur, says that it’s critical to bleed a bluefish. You have to do this immediately, while the fish is still alive. If you don’t, they all say, your bluefish will taste fishy and nasty. [...]
Yesterday morning I made the rounds, delivering packages of our home-caught, home-smoked bluefish to some of our friends. Three stops: Amanda, Doug and Dianne, Al and Christl. I was feeling all salty and heroic, bestowing little bags of beautiful peppered fillets on a few of our favorite people. Hah! The tables were turned. Here’s a [...]
I like the steep part of the learning curve. In a way, that’s a good thing, since I’m spending most of my time there these days. In a way, though, it’s bad because it means I’ll never get really good at anything. The best part of learning something new is the first five minutes because [...]
It seems I’m constantly writing about things I screw up, so I figured it’s only fair that I should tell you about something I didn’t. It started with yesterday morning’s fishing trip. We went out at about 7:00 AM, in search of scup, bluefish, or both. Scup fishing and bluefish fishing are very different. Scup [...]
Tamar Haspel has been writing about food and health for over a decade. She recently moved from Manhattan to Cape Cod. She’s adjusting well. [Read More …]
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