Outdoor Kitchen
Fresh is best
The tastiest ways to prepare seafood this summer
S
BY TAYLOR O’CONNOR ummer is a golden time to have seafood. It’s light, fresh, and full of health benefits. From ahi tuna poke bowls to savory sea bass, seafood can satisfy anyone’s cravings. Being on the Central Coast provides locals access to the freshest and highest quality fish— which is the first step to cooking tasty seafood, said Giovanni DeGarimore, owner of Giovanni’s Fish Market in Morro Bay. “You want to start with your local fishmonger. If you buy some frozen fish, it’s not going to be great,” DeGarimore said. Fish gets fishier the longer it’s been out of
the water, and it’s not something people should wait to prepare or keep for a long time like beef or other meats, he said. As a local fish market and unloading facility, DeGarimore works with fishermen through independent contracts to get fish right off the boat and into the market. “We will process them here and have them available for locals in our fish market, and we ship nationwide. People order from across the country [and] we ship overnight seafood to all 50 states,” DeGarimore said. Some of the local favorites this time of year include salmon, halibut, and sea bass, but employees tend to push salmon when the fish is in season, he said. “Summer is best known for the local California wild king salmon, but the Department of Fish and Wildlife regulates salmon more,” he explained. “It’s always an exciting time because it’s only available so [often]. People wait all year
PHOTOS COURTESY OF GIOVANNI’S FISH MARKET
to get wild salmon as opposed to a farm-raised fish in the grocery store.” Once you acquire your locally sourced fish, the best way to cook a filet is hot and fast on a grill, DeGarimore said—not low and slow because it can overcook the fish, which is a common mistake. “When you overcook fish, it gets dry and chewy,” he said. “You want to cook it long enough where you get that nice sear on the outside, but it’s still juicy in the middle.” DeGarimore suggested cooking salmon filets for six to eight minutes on each side to get the inside to be slightly opaque; it should be a pale SEAFOOD continued page 16
We’re
More Than Tacos 14x WINNER BEST TACO SLO COUNTY OPEN DAILY @ 11AM
MORRO BAY
SAN LUIS OBISPO
805-772-4965
805-439-2856
TacoTemple.com SUMMER/FALL 2022 Get Outside 15
