June 6, 2012- Peter Sueltenfuss, executive chef at Grace, recalls that whenever he went fishing with his uncle as a kid, they always threw back any redfish that ended up on their lines.
It was only lobster bait, after all. Redfish just wasn't in the same league as those staples of the New England table, cod and haddock.
So why is Sueltenfuss pan-searing redfish for his customers this week, offering it as a menu item alongside his other more sophisticated dishes?
Grace, along with 19 other Maine restaurants, is participating in "Out of the Blue," a special promotion organized by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute that began June 1 and runs through Sunday. Out of the Blue celebrates those lesser-known, under-appreciated species in the ocean that rarely end up on diners' dinner plates.
Mainers got their first taste of redfish at Harvest on the Harbor last fall, when chef Sam Hayward of Fore Street in Portland prepared it for a hungry crowd that also downed Atlantic pollock tacos and gumbo made with northern shrimp.
Over the winter, a steering committee that included Hayward, other restaurant owners and chefs, five fishermen and several others with an interest in sustainable fishing developed the Out of the Blue program as a follow-up to the Harvest on the Harbor event.
Stop into any of the participating restaurants this week – 15 of them are in Portland – and you'll find a redfish option on the menu.
Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald.