Fish

I grew up in - and still live - in the Pacific Northwest. And when it comes to food, the first thing many people think about the PNW is seafood. Tons of seafood. As if everyone who lives north of California and east of Idaho consumes nothing but salmon all day long. Granted, areas like Western Washington State are famous for their seafood restaurants and markets. But once you get east of the Cascade Mountains, seafood is not available fresh, so it's red meat territory. Oregon is not known as a fresh fish Mecca. I think those in Oregon feed themselves - mostly - on kale and Voodoo Donuts, but I have yet to find an Oregonian (vegan or otherwise) who can muster enough energy to dispute this claim.

As I got older, I developed an allergy to seafood. Specifically, salt water fish and crustaceans. (Side-thought here - why is it that freshwater fish, like trout, are still called "seafood", when they don't spend any time in salt water?) Anyway, as I got older, my allergy to seafood got stronger, to the point where I can no longer eat things like shrimp (I used to be able to eat breaded or beer-battered shrimp by the boxcar-load) or fish like salmon (salt-water season), without a severe allergic reaction.

Now, I'm a meat and potatoes kind of guy, but when I'm in the mood for fish, I'd like to have an option that doesn't send me into anaphylactic shock. Fortunately for me, there is halibut.

While I was in high school, my father and I went on fishing trips to Alaska and caught some nice-sized halibut, which he would craft into these golden, breaded nuggets of awesome.

Just last weekend, after learning I could - possibly - be able to eat halibut, my seafood-loving wife and I went to Uwajimaya in Seattle and bought a rather sizable slab of fresh, right-off-the-boat halibut. Growing up in Eastern Washington, she had never had halibut that fresh. We ended up making a few dishes from the fish slab. Having spent so many years accommodating my dietary restrictions, and to finally find seafood I could eat without allergies, she was happy and I was very pleased.

Next time we buy halibut, I hope we can recreate those seasoned, breaded nuggets my dad would make for my family. It was the memory of those tidbits of yum that brought me back - albeit partially - into the seafood-loving Pacific NW fold.