Food & Wine

Wine In My Kitchen: Cooking and Reading Everyday
by Karen Tripson

Beach Classics
from Pearl Oyster Bar and
Lobster Rolls and Blueberry Pie, by Rebecca Charles and Deborah DiClimenti

Part cookbook, family memoir and chef's tale, Lobster Rolls and Blueberry Pie chronicles almost a hundred years of Rebecca Charles' family, especially the summer vacations in Maine. Beginning with the adventure of driving 300 miles on what passed for roads and tires in 1919, there's also the glamour of the roaring twenties and Pearl, the stylish Metropolitan Opera singer. Pearl walks a cat on a leash on Gooch's beach and must have been one of the first to wear a shocking one-piece bathing suit, with high heels. Nobody in this family is ever shoeless.

Three generations end up vacationing in Maine every August because Kennebunkport's coastal climate is an escape from New York heat with wonderful swimming beaches and plenty of family amusements. Equally compelling is the Forest Hill House, an old-fashioned boarding house, which delivered three outstanding meals a day.

In the 1950s in New Rochelle, New York, in the glamour of the new television industry, the narrator of the family memoir enters the story and begins the circuitous path to chef obsessed with fresh seafood, perfectly seasoned and perfectly cooked, that culminates in Pearl Oyster Bar in New York City. Pearl, meanwhile, still stylish, has become the doting grandmother of the chef Rebecca Charles, who will name a restaurant after her.

It's interesting reading because the characters are appealing against the big historical events of the century and you do care about them. The tone of voice is consistently on the mark, such that you'd never suspect that Deborah DiClementi wrote it. Given restaurant staffs' reputation for flamboyant behavior and the popularity of memoirs with too much information, I appreciate the discretion in the telling of this fun-loving family. Interspersed in the memoir are cooking tips and recipes from Peal Oyster Bar inspired by the cuisine of those summers in Maine.

Pro Tips on Buying and Cooking Seafood
Rosy summer memories aside, typical vacation fare, from the dockside chowder house or lobster shanty, is usually disappointing. That's because cooking seafood anywhere is a challenge right from the purchase. Selecting fresh, high quality ingredients is intimidating. Can you remember the characteristics of perfect dead fish eyes when standing in front of the display on crushed ice with the fishmonger watching you? Do you have the courage to ask to smell it? How do you cook the one that seems like the best choice? Which one would be best for grilling? How do you know when it's done? It seems there are so many ways to fail with fish. Lobster Rolls and Blueberry Pie offers plenty of practical advice on dealing with the fishmonger, selecting the right recipe for the fish and cooking seafood of all varieties. The advice from a professional chef's point of view is clearly presented and is a good reason to own this book.

• What's the best fish for grilling whole? Fish with low fat content are perfect for grilling whole, because they would fall apart if filleted and grilled. Look for whole snapper, sea bass, trout, pompano and dourade.
• Want to make cross hatch grill marks on a fillet for a beautiful presentation? Only make the marks on one side, about two minutes for each set. The fish will be over cooked if you try to mark the second side.
• Need an easy and perfect marinade before grilling? Instead of soaking in an acidic marinade which can turn delicate fish into cerviche, lightly oil fillets, press fresh herbs on the top of the fillets. After 30 minutes, season with salt and pepper and grill. Classic combinations to try are dill with swordfish, rosemary with salmon, basil with tuna, and marjoram with halibut.
• Make clarified butter in big batches to keep on hand for sautéing fish or crab cakes It won't burn with high heat.
• Want to make a clambake in your landlocked kitchen? Remarkably simple instructions and recipes for a traditional or gourmet party are included in the cookbook.
  

The Restaurant Experience:
I Know What I'm Having in Two Minutes or Less
Pearl Oyster Bar has made the Maine lobster roll a widely imitated phenomenon in New York City. However, I went to eat oysters. My expectations about oysters on the half shell are that they must be bracing cold, juicy and a little briny. The first thing you learn about oysters at Pearl is that there's only one kind served each day. No choices. That's the chef and owner, Rebecca Charles' philosophy, "Life has too many choices, we make it simple here. Know that you're eating the freshest oysters available that day in the city." OK. I ordered and ate six and was really pleased with whatever they were.

With that good beginning I start studying the menu, which is short, and so is the wine list. I learned from the chef that the design goal behind the menu is for a customer to be able to say in two minutes, "I know what I'm having." I ate fried oysters next. This dish was a revelation. The battered oyster was a spiky sea urchin sphere, sitting on tartar salad in an oyster shell. Almost too big for one bite, with just enough tartar gilding, the first surprise was the lightness and crunchiness of the hot crust, positively nutty; then the oyster juice spurted out of a barely warm, briny oyster. That's a lot of sensory experiences going on in one bite—all of them exceeding my expectations.
I am not a lobster freak, probably because I expect it to be overcooked and tough, but I couldn't pass up the icon. The lobster salad was cold with generous mayonnaise and minimal seasoning. The chunks of lobster were meaty. The hot dog bun was grilled and the potato frittes were crisp and hot. When I go back with friends to help out, I'm starting with the clam cocktail, the chowder and the oyster roll.

How to Achieve a Memorable Short List of Wines for Seafood
A wine list that ranges from $28 to $60 is a warm welcome. I don't think you could make a mistake with this list either. Twenty three seafood-friendly wines, mostly European, 12 white, 7 red, 1 rose, 2 champagnes and 1 sparkler are offered, many of them are available by the glass. Three desert wines are on the list too. My first glass was Gruner Veltliner, Wieninger 2001 and the second was Sancerre 'Croix de Roy', Lucien Crochet. I would have loved to try:

• Prosecco, Bisson ($35 bottle / $8 glass)
  
• Rueda Basa, Telmo Rodriguez ($28 bottle / $6.50 glass).
  
• Priorat, Les Terrasses, Alvaro Palaciaos ($50 bottle)

One of the few American titles is a Pinot Gris, from King Estate ($33 bottle / $7 glass) that's a good choice for a reasonable price to support the Northwest's reputation for excellent wines for seafood. An unusual title to me is a red Sancerre from Henry Natter ($37 bottle /$7.50 glass).

"I want my wine list to be like me, my restaurant and my menu—focused, straightforward, no distractions. Every item offers quality and value." But when pushed for how it is done, because I know simple looks easy, but is hard to do, the answer turns out to be—not a distributor or a wine salesman. The wine list like everything else is hard work, takes a lot of time and you have to do it yourself. Research, look for value, taste and when you find something you like, find out who sells it. On this last point, Rebecca Charles is adamant, "Don't let the wine salesman in the door! If you do, you'll spend all day tasting bad wines." Listen to an interview with Rebecca Charles by NPR's Liane Hansen for more words on cooking summer classics.

The Cooking at Home Experience
Pearl crab cakes are mostly crab. That's what makes a good crab cake. I tried them entrée size and again very successfully in a bite size to serve as an appetizer for a crowd. Other good snacks to begin the evening are Salt-Crusted Shrimp (recipe follows below) and Cheesies (a cocktail snack from the 1950's and reportedly the recipe of New Rochelle friend and neighbor, Carl Reiner's wife, Estelle). I have tried several times the pan roasting technique for fillets, as in Pan Roasted Cod recipe. This is a no-fail method for cooked and juicy fish with three minutes on the stovetop and four minutes in the oven.

Sweet Corn Ragout is a worthy summer accompaniment for any seafood. Warm Cabbage Salad had the elements for greatness but too much cabbage for the dressing or for four people. The recipe probably should have called for four cups of sliced cabbage, not one head. I suspect the frugal publisher, in addition to skipping creating the index, a sorry way to save money, also skipped the last proofreading. Don't let that stop you from enjoying this book. There are many more recipes to try such as the Gazpacho with Lobster and Shrimp. What makes the Blueberry Pie so special? Good pie crust on the bottom, lots of blueberries and a rich crumble topping. So rich it needs ice-cream to cut it a bit? That could be.

Salt-Crusted Shrimp Recipe

Vegetable, peanut or canola oil1 cup flour
1/3 cup cracker meal
12 medium shrimp, deveined, shell on
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a 5-quart saucepot heat 4 cups of oil to 350°(F). In a pie plate, combine the flour and cracker meal. Dredge the shrimp thoroughly in the flour mixture. Shake off the excess. If you don't have a thermometer, drop a test shrimp into the oil. If it sizzles and rises to the surface immediately, it's ready. Fry the shrimp for about 2 minutes, then drain on paper towels. Season aggressively with salt and pepper on both sides.

Pearl Oyster Bar 18 Cornelia Street, New York 10014 • 212-691-8211

Return to the top

Return to Food&Wine