My sister Michelle has always been a devout fan of the seafood boil. So much that she's been known to order seafood boils delivered to her desk at work, slurping up the juices of her crustaceans right at her keyboard. Devout.
Admittedly, at first I didn't fully grasp my sister's affinity for seafood boils. What's the big deal? I thought. Boiled seafood. What I didn't know, however, was that the magic of a seafood boil comes through like a spell, with the marriage of spices and aromatics that build the boil for the proteins, for which I used Pacific Halibut Quick Cuts, snow crab, sidestriped shrimp and spot prawns. Or that the water used is sometimes enhanced with a can of beer to bring out more flavor. Or that the sauce in which the seafood is slathered before it's served is a phenomenal garlicky concoction of butter, fresh parsley and yet more of those magical spices.
In addition to all of the aforementioned merits, the seafood boil is also ridiculously easy to make! The kind of food that gives the impression of hours spent in the kitchen, but realistically takes about 25 minutes to complete. A meal that makes even the humblest home cook look like a world-class chef, leaving ample time to savor an unforgettable feast.
The truth is that after making a seafood boil for the first time, it becomes quite evident that the meal is so much more than boiled seafood. It’s more like an enchantment of the sea brewed into being through flavor and heat. A miracle of savoriness made possible by big, bold and brazen tastes. And even more so, a meal that feels like a full-throttle interactive, roll-your-sleeves-up-and-work kind of experience, in which prawns are peeled, crab shells cracked, corn cobs chomped on, and butter dripped. A meal that invites messy togetherness and surrendered politeness — where the only thing left on the table is the question: when's the next seafood boil?
Live Wild!
Monica
P.S. I’ve been keeping a big secret from you about a project I’ve been working on for the past two years. I’ll tell you all about it in next week’s newsletter, so make sure you’re ready — don’t miss it! :) For those of you who read my weekly letter, you know that, in addition to recipes, I try to impart tips, tricks, pantry favorites and all varieties of insights and inspo related to cooking Alaska seafood at home. That’s my hint for you!
For a better hint though, keep an eye on your inboxes early next week for an email from Wild Alaskan Company — you’ll probably be able to guess which one clues you into my exciting announcement.
Pictured above: A montage of a recent Kallenberg family seafood boil, featuring Snap-and-Eat Snow Crab (one of our current member specials!), spot prawns, sidestriped shrimp, and Pacific Halibut Quick Cuts.
