Ten Tables, the wonderful farm to table restaurant in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood (reviewed this past fall), hosted in April a unique seafood dinner sponsored by  Eating with the Ecosystem.  Fisherwoman and environmental activist Sarah Schumann, who in addition to her fishing license has a degree in Marine Affairs at the University of Rhode Island, started Eating with the Ecosystem to advocate for an approach to sustainable New England seafood focused on “a place-based conception of sustainability.”  Schumann’s focus is on the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean stretching from Southern New England’s Block Island Sound, Nantucket Shoals and the coastal salt ponds of Narragansett Bay and Long Island Sound to Northern New England’s Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, some of the richest fishing grounds in the world.

Last month’s inspirational seafood dinner at Ten Tables focused on the riches of George’s Bank, a shallow plateau under the Atlantic Ocean, running from Cape Cod, MA to Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia, one of the largest fishing grounds in the world.  Because it is a shallow offshore plateau, it experiences a high degree of light penetration, and because it is located where the Gulf Stream meets the Labrador Current, it is flooded with nutrients.  These natural features make it highly productive, and it has provided a stable food source for New England for centuries.  A myriad of sea life calls this special place home, but overfishing and climate change are presenting challenges to this historically abundant and important fishing ecosystem.  The Georges Bank most famous denizen-Atlantic cod, has become a shadow of its former self, and its role as dominant species in the ecosystem has faded.  The dinner at Ten Tables gave guests an opportunity to try some of this ecosystem’s less familiar species  while gaining an understanding of the changing ecosystem of Georges Bank.

Ten Table’s Chef Sean Callahan presented a creative menu showcasing a diverse sampling of seafood items. While dining on the first course of succulent scallop ceviche (expertly prepared with  fresh raw scallops marinated in citrus juices and spices), Eating with the Ecosystem’s  Sarah Schumann explained that the usual and unsustainable mode has been to fish in the Georges Bank for one species only, namely cod.  This upset the balance of the ecosystem: with the depletion of cod, less popular species, such as dogfish and skates have taken their place in the ecosystem.  In order to keep the balance, Schumann suggested harvesting species across the food chain.  For instance, instead of catching only cod, we should harvest fish across the food chain—proportional amounts of large fish, smaller fish, crustaceans, and seaweed.  According to Schumann, we can take a lesson from the North Sea: the fishing industry there throws fewer species back, and that ecosystem has experienced “less perturbation as a result.”  This approach permits the ecosystem to regenerate and provides enough balance to allow all the species to thrive.

The second course of house-cured hake brandade (hake fish cured in an emulsion of salt cod and olive oil)  with pickles and toast delighted the taste buds.  Hake fish comes from the same order (Gadiformes) as cod but is a small fish averaging only one to eight pounds.   While enjoying this delicious dish, the featured speaker Angela Sanfilippo of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association spoke about the methods fishermen are using to ensure a sustainable harvest.  Nets with wider holes allow young fish to escape.  Certain areas are maintained off limits until the stock has replenished itself.  She expounded upon the complications arising due to the acidification of the oceans; as more fossil fuels are burned, the oceans take in more CO2, and this increases the ph of the sea, affecting sea life in the ocean.  Shellfish can’t develop their shells, and shifting water temperatures cause entire species of fish to move elsewhere.  With every tasty morsel of smokey hake a new fact was  taken in.  After she departed from our table, the main dish arrived.

Skate wing with fingerling potatoes provided an exceptional finish to the seafood.  My education, however, was far from over.  A dining companion, who works with the Coast Guard, related to me the challenges present in implementing fishing regulations.  Simply stated, fishermen work hard jobs to bring in large catches to make money, and regulators apply pressure on them to bring in less, even as the demand for fish is high.  Competition from other boats, licensing for specific species, and other obstacles make navigating the way to a sustainable approach very difficult. Overfishing is not easily prevented, but neither is economic viability for fishermen easily achieved.  Still, consumer craving for hake and skate, with more market value placed on these “throwaway” species, might help.

In his brilliant Four Fish, The Future of the Last Wild Food (Penguin Books, New York, 2011), Paul Greenberg described the contemporary fish market, in which four varieties of fish (salmon, sea bass, cod and tuna) dominate:  “Four archetypes of fish flesh which humanity is trying to master in one way or another either through the management of a wild system, through the domestication and farming of individual species, or through the outright substitution of one species [as an example, tilapia for cod] for another.”  As my dining companion suggested, the management of a wild system is rife with difficulty, and we all are familiar with the environmental degradation resulting from the farming of fish.  According to Paul Greenberg’s Four Fish, 3 billion pounds of farmed salmon are produced every year, three times the amount of wild fish harvested.  Eating With the Ecosystem’s approach provides a ray of hope, and Fish Watch, maintained by NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) is also a useful resource for the seafood consumer.

Dessert appears, a beautiful goat cheese panna cotta with rhubarb compote.  Light, tart, and ever so slightly sweet, it’s a perfect finish as I ponder the efforts behind the meal.  By fusing the knowledge of marine scientists and commercial fishermen with the culinary creativity of innovative chefs, dinners sponsored by Eating with the Ecosystem provide a deep understanding of the special places in the ocean that produce the seafood we enjoy.  Information concerning future dinners will be noted on Eating with the Ecosystem’s website.   Last spring, dinners were held in Rhode Island at restaurants in Newport, Bristol, and Tiverton.  Beginning in September, plans are to hold additional dinners in the Boston area at Cambridge’s Henrietta’s Table, Newton’s Lumiere and Tremont 647 in Boston’s South End.
[Ten Tables, 597 Centre Street, Boston (Jamaica Plain), 617.524.8810, Dinner: Mon-Thurs 5:30PM-10:00PM, Fri-Sat 5:30PM-10:30PM, Sun 5:00PM-9:00PM, www.tentables.net/]
[Lucas Knapp – Good Eats Guru, with contributions by Frank W. Barrie]

Known as the “Garden of Ireland,” County Wicklow lies to the south of Ireland’s capital,  Dublin.  Between the mountains and the sea, Wicklow has earned the sobriquet due to its wealth of farms and gardens that have supplied Dublin with meat and produce over centuries.  The village of Rathnew (population 2,964) is buried deep in County Wicklow and there you will find Hunter’s Hotel.   Beloved by generations of Dubliners as a quiet retreat and home of good food, Hunter’s started life in 1650 as a coaching inn.  It has been in the Gelletlie family for five generations (since 1825) and over the years has maintained its reputation for comfortable accommodation and excellent fare.  Mention “Hunter’s” to south Dubliners and they will recognize it immediately.

A recent family lunch at Hunter’s provided a delightful antidote to busy city life.  Hunter’s is a short distance from the N11, the main Dublin to Wexford highway, down a winding, hedge-lined road.  A turn under an archway alongside the road and one arrives in Hunter’s graveled parking lot which is also the original stable yard, complete with stone mounting block, an ancient water pump and clucking chickens.

On a drizzly Spring day (Ireland is not green without reason), our foursome entered the hotel bar, a cheerful low-ceilinged room.  It is in truth more like your grandmother’s parlor than a bar.  Even on a cloudy day, the room is lighted by windows overlooking the spectacular gardens, of which the hotel is deservedly proud.  Comfortable chairs, wide-planked floors and a fire blazing in the fireplace set a low-key and cozy tone for our pre-lunch drinks, served while we perused the menu.

The hotel prides itself on providing vegetables for its table from its own gardens and sourcing locally as much as possible of the produce, fish, and fowl that are featured on its menu.  Assistant manager Margaret Thompson was a friendly presence on hand to answer questions about the menu and to take our orders.  Her enthusiastic and well informed responses to questions eloquently demonstrated the hotel’s commitment to the promotion of home-grown and local produce.

After a leisurely drink we were advised that our table was ready and we moved into the dining room, a spacious, bright room that also fronts on the gardens.  Outside, a large rhododendron,  bursting into a frenzy of magenta blossom, was just feet from the window by which our table was located.  All through lunch a succession of birds flitted in and out of it, busy about their Spring business.

A light hum of conversation filled the cream-colored dining room.  Most of the tables were occupied, plainly by escapees from the city such as ourselves.  Each table was covered in starched white linen and placed on it was a vase with spring flowers from the garden, a nice touch.  The old hunting prints on the wall and the clunky, classical cutlery were in complete accord with the charm of the setting and bolstered a feeling that one had stepped back in time.

We had selected from the luncheon menu which contained a choice of six starter courses and five main courses accompanied by vegetables.  One could also opt for dessert or a selection of  Irish cheeses, served after the meal in the local custom.

I skipped the starter course, but others were less restrained.  One of our party had chicken liver paté, tomato chutney and melba toast and another had oak-smoked trout, with orange and blueberry salad.  Both were pronounced to be excellent.

Ireland is an island in the north Atlantic and it is a shame not to sample its variety of fish and shellfish.  Accordingly, I selected baked filet of hake with leek velouté for my main course. It was delicious. The hake was expertly prepared; boneless, juicy and fork-splittable, and the velouté upon which it rested was the perfect complement: leeks and a hint of wine combined to create a sweet contrast to the flavor of the fish without threatening to overpower it.  All main dishes were accompanied by a selection of carrots, potatoes and cauliflower, simply cooked and neatly silver-served by our waitress.

Others had grilled salmon, drizzled with a tomato and garlic cream sauce, and slow roasted belly of pork with apple compote.  Both were reported to be excellent.  My father, blessed with unreconstructed tastes, ordered pan fried lamb’s liver and bacon with onion gravy.  To the dubiousness of the rest of us, he was thrilled to find this old fashioned staple which is rarely offered on menus these days.  He loved it.

There was barely room for dessert, but we were on holiday and so prudence was thrown to the winds.  The Irish love their fruit crumble, but it is difficult to find it done properly.  Hunter’s proved to be the exception.  The spiced apple and raisin crumble was superb with just the right balance of fruits and juiciness, all topped with a crisp – not soggy, not lumpy – buttery crust.  Other desserts enjoyed were a crème caramel and poached pears stuffed with figs and laced with caramel sauce.

As we arose from the table, the sun finally split the clouds as if on cue and we were able to take a look at the gardens.  By the side of the Vartry river, they are simply beautiful and worth a visit in themselves.  Well tended and a mix of vegetable, formal and informal they presented a lovely setting for a post-lunch ramble and evoked memories of past afternoons, enjoying a drink or afternoon tea in their fragrant embrace.  A gentle stroll in such surroundings provided the perfect ending to a delightful meal. [Hunter’s Hotel, Newrath Bridge, Rathnew, 353.404.40106, Lunch: Daily 1:00PM-3:00PM, Dinner: Daily 7:30PM-9:00PM, Lunch from U.S.$25, Dinner (2 courses) from U.S.$39.00, www.hunters.ie]
(Eidin Beirne)