O.K., O.K. I know you foodies who crave great seafood have been severely neglected this year when it comes to bay scallops. Your opportunities to savor the delicious morsels this year have been slim to none. The market right now is a Nantucket Bay scallop wasteland. A desert of flavor, bay scallop speaking at least. There are several impostors out there, claiming fame but delivering disappointment.
There is good news. We have found a solution, thanks to Tom Robinson of Taylor Lobster Company. Tom reached out to me a few weeks ago and offered a "New" Hampshire alternative to my Nantucket Bay scallop problem; "Try my New Hampshire Bay scallops, you might really like them." So we did, and I have to say "really like" is the understatement of the year. These bay scallops came in freshly shucked, some felt like they were still pulsating from the icy cold waters of Great Bay, New Hampshire. They were meaty, sweet and succulent, everything Nantucket Bay scallops promise to be. They sear perfectly and eating them raw is an exercise in flavor divinity.
The New Hampshire Bay scallop fishery is a very small one. Our scallops are harvested by Jeremy Davis of the fishing vessel Karen-Lynn. It's a one man fishery which makes supply limited, but the quality and attention to detail when it comes to handling the product is unmatched when compared to the larger industrial sized fisheries.
I am not sure when we will be able to procure another shipment of Nantucket Bay scallops. I have documented their plight previously and since then not much has changed. The market is infiltrated right now with many different retreaded bay scallops that bear no resemblance to the famed scallops that represent the Nantucket legacy. New Hampshire bay scallops have arrived to fill the void that has been created and are beginning to establish their own following. Their quality and unsurpassed flavor rivals the Nantucket bay scallop in every way and in a not so distant future I envision a gold rush-like clamoring for these delicious bivalves. The fish market always has an open space for another mouthwatering seafood selection.
