Hermosillo, Mexico
Do it Yourself Seafood.

Personally, I find that seafood is best when it is freshest and when I prepare it myself. I was born on the shores of the James River in Virginia and, until I went off to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, I lived in the water. The first time I nearly drowned was when I was three years old. As a youth I made my spending money selling the clams and soft crabs that I caught in the flats of Hampton Roads. I even started my professional career as a marine scientists and my specialties were at different times, blue crabs and striped bass. In truth, there are few living things in the Chesapeake Bay that I have not prepared and eaten at least once. I fished with everything you could imagine from nets to spears to cane poles, in fresh, salt and brackish water. Often, I traveled to the Florida Keys to enjoy the fruits of those water ... in the days when you could still get spiny lobsters and stone crabs.

But alas, for the past 15 or so years I have lived in the deserts of Southern Arizona and now Sonora. My ventures to the coast have been greatly restricted, even here, where we are just one hour from the dream world of my younger days. I am not and have never been a "sports" fisherman. Fishing, crabbing and clamming were my work or the way I obtained my food. No doubt this will cloud my point of view on these pages about seafood and the extraordinary opportunities offered by the Gulf of California. I know this is also a sports fisherman's paradise. You pay the money and the probability of landing a world class marlin is very great. I will try and find out the details for those people with this bent.

But for the moment see the seafood through the eyes of a fairly knowledgeable biologist who is both thrifty and adventurous when it comes to seafood. Also be aware that I will try almost anything, but I will not eat any seafood that has any signs of age, from tasteless to rancid. If it does not taste good, don't eat it. I have never suffered from eating bad seafood because I will not eat it. Fresh seafood is delicious. If what your are eating is not good, do not eat it.

If you are coming to this part of Mexico with the idea of enjoying the beaches and dabbling in my kind of "do it yourself seafood", you will need to bring a few things that are hard to come by in Mexico.

First and foremost, bring a jar of prepared horseradish. It is crucial to my enjoyment of many types of shellfish from shrimp to clams. Mix a little horseradish with ketchup and lemon juice and you have what I consider the premier cocktail sauce in the world. If you forget the horseradish you can improvise on the scene by mixing a Salsa Sonora (or its equivalent) with ketchup and lime juice. It just really isn't the same. And the cocktail sauce or juice that they make here with V8 juice and chopped veggies is appalling.

Bring a rod and reel if you want to fish from the beaches or from a small skiff (panga) rented from a local panguero. The real charter boats furnish all of the fishing gear you will need.

I recommend crab nets for the beaches and estuaries (esteros). These are long handled dip nets made for catching crabs. They will turn a simple outing into a riot for the family and young children. Read and follow my suggestions about beach and estuary exploration and the whole family will become avid marine biologists.

Seafood ... a first look..

SHRIMP.

Go to the HOTPAGE Do It Yourself Seafood page.

Buying crabs and crabmeat.

Catching your own crabs ... a real learning experience.

Soft Shell Crabs ... yes, they are here.

Catch and cook your own clams, mussels and snails.

Comments or suggestions? Want to share your own knowledge or experiences? Send an email to nschool@nschool.org