Author: Mildred Bell

I never imagined that a nation would alter my perception of fish. Yes, food. Perhaps wine. However, fish felt like fish—something you ordered with care and consumed fast in the hopes that it wouldn’t taste like the interior of a cooler. In about a week, Portugal disproved that notion with three dishes that I still think about more than I’d like to acknowledge. The first was bacalhau, or salt cod, which may not seem like much until you realize how important it is to the nation. Although the fish itself comes from the icy waters off Norway, not anywhere near…

The majority of American tourists arrive in San Sebastián, enjoy their pintxos in the old town, snap a picture of La Concha beach, and declare their trip to be Basque. It’s an excellent trip. It’s simply not the best one out there; the better one is located in towns most itineraries never mention, about twenty minutes down the coast. The most obvious example is Getaria. With boats still unloading the day’s catch at a harbor that has a subtle diesel and salt odor, it’s a working fishing village rather than a picture-perfect one. At the water’s edge, locals grill whole…

The Lighthouse Seafood served fish sandwiches and shrimp platters to a Westside clientele that knew exactly what they were getting for ten years on a section of Fredericksburg Road that receives little attention from outsiders. Nothing extravagant. No pretense. Decade after decade, just a family managing a kitchen the way their mother taught them. The restaurant then posted something that no one wanted to read on Easter Sunday. That would be it after two more days. After Monday and Tuesday, the lights would permanently go out. This is the kind of announcement that typically signifies the end. In San Antonio,…

Every April, a certain type of noise permeates the aisles of Seafood Expo Global: the smell of espresso from someone’s improvised barista cart, the low hum of translated conversation, and booths piled high with ice and salmon fillets. This year, the noise in Hall 4, Booth A401, had a new focal point: a brand-new label with the ASC logo applied to packaging from international partners. It wasn’t nuanced. It was intended to be observed. This label was introduced by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council back in March, but it was put to the test in Barcelona by those who must actually…

In a small fishing town on the Pacific coast, a woman from Ohio told me that after eating shrimp her entire life without any problems, she developed hives twenty minutes after consuming a bowl of cioppino. Back home, she didn’t have a shrimp allergy. Or so she believed. Her story has become strangely prevalent among frequent travelers, and it raises an almost unbelievable question: can merely relocating to a coastal area actually cause a new food allergy? Many allergists believe that the short answer is more complex than a simple yes or no. Allergies are not created by travel alone.…

When a family of four checks into a single hotel room close to the beach, a certain kind of chaos ensues. Wet towels everywhere. The one bed that isn’t currently occupied by a toddler has someone’s sandy shoes on it. A tiny refrigerator that can only contain one sandwich. The data confirms what many parents have been whispering to themselves for years, and anyone who has done it knows how it feels. Families visiting the coast are more interested in space, predictability, and a kitchen that isn’t a vending machine than in luxury, according to a number of studies and…

There’s a particular kind of dinner fatigue that sets in around 6 p.m. on a weeknight, when the takeout app feels like the only honest option left. A bowl of cubed raw tuna, warm rice, and a spoonful of spicy mayo—which takes less time to prepare than it does to wait for delivery—has subtly taken the place of that moment for an increasing number of home cooks. There was little fanfare when the spicy tuna poke bowl first appeared in American kitchens. Through Hawaii’s long-standing custom of tossing raw fish with sesame oil and soy sauce, as well as the…

When a restaurant consistently fails to open, a certain level of anticipation develops. The announcement is heard first, followed by the updated schedule, another delay, and finally silence. Some Catonsville residents had been waiting for almost six years by the time The Fishmonger’s Daughter finally had its soft launch on a Friday at the end of April. Some likely stopped counting. The restaurant is located at 720 Frederick Road, inside a former Plymouth Wallpaper store that had previously taken the place of a century-old Heidelbach’s grocery store. When the Faidley family purchased the building in 2020, it had been vacant…

On a Tuesday morning during the off-season, Padstow appears nearly identical. The street is empty save for a few dog walkers walking toward the estuary, the fishing boats in the inner harbor are still and low, and the gift stores selling fudge and nautical-themed tea towels have not yet opened. The Seafood Restaurant, which has a reputation that predates it by many counties and is recognizable from decades of television, is only around the corner. There’s a feeling that this establishment has been carrying a great deal of expectation for a very long time, and that it has generally handled…

Most recipes start from the incorrect place, which is why most lobster bisques taste like cream with a hazy seafood suggestion. They start with cooked lobster flesh, then add cream, broth from a carton, and a garnish. The outcome appears to be bisque. It tastes nothing like what it is supposed to. Since the flavor is found in the shells, the authentic version, which originates from homes where lobsters were harvested from the water rather than bought, begins there. Everything in this dish starts with a good lobster stock. In terms of clock time, it is one additional step, as…