Green Fig and Lionfish: Sustainable Caribbean Cooking (A Gourmet Foodie Gift)

by Allen Susser

Overview

Seasonal Caribbean Lionfish brings together the allure of the Caribbean Sea and the Caribbean island life that is being threatened by the lionfish. It engages readers to understand how this evasive species is damaging our coral reefs and is endangering the delicate balance of marine life. So many locals live happily close to the earth and now depend on a sustained vigilance to enjoy the rhythm of nature. The venomous lionfish must be hunted by divers who individually spear each fish for market. Intriguingly this fish may seem a bit more dangerous to eat – but fear not. The lionfish has the starring role of good vs evil. Good to eat and enjoy its succulent flavor, yet bad for the fragile coral reef environment if left unchecked. My mission is to get people excited about eating lionfish and at the same time rewarding them for benefiting the environment sustainably. It is a revealing, how to cook lionfish cookbook about sustainability and Caribbean adventure. The colorful mosaic of its people and magnificent array of seasonal ingredients make this corner of the world a dynamic cultural food exchange. Cooking in season and local takes advantage of the best tasting ingredients at peak ripeness. Join the culinary seasonal journey exploring locally farmed and exotic tropical tastes including: mango, papaya, pineapple, passion fruit, coconut, plantains, dasheen, Malibar spinach, avocado, limes and bread fruit. This lionfish cookbook is a practical guide to unpretentious fish cooking with big and bold Caribbean flavors. Discover how to blend the spices of the Caribbean into your cooking, while using easy to understand techniques. Recipe examples include lionfish coconut ceviche, pan roasted lionfish with passionfruit, banana leaf grilled lionfish, and spicy lionfish tacos with mango chow chow. These delicious recipes allow plenty of room for the talented fun-loving home cook or professional to cook flexibly and think creatively.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781642501643
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	12/03/2019
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Chef Allen Susser is a James Beard Award winning Chef. He has a passionate commitment to local fresh ingredients. The New York Times called Allen the “Ponce De Leon of New Florida cooking”. His landmark restaurant changed the way people ate in Miami forever, and effected how we all eat today. Food & Wine magazine named Chef Allen "One of the Best 10 Chefs in America".

Chef Allen’s Consulting is a boutique sustainable restaurant and hospitality consulting firm - providing strategic initiative, culinary resources, and innovative direction for the industry. One of his current projects is pioneering chocolate in St Lucia, West Indies. His Emerald Estate Vintage Chocolate is a bean to bar authentically hand-crafted Chocolate.

Susser is currently a spokesman for the National Mango Board and is a Culinary Ambassador for the Monterey Bay Aquarium for its sustainable seafood watch. He received an honorary Doctor of Culinary Arts from Johnson and Wales University. And received the President's Award for community service from Florida International University. He is the original author of New World Cuisine and Cookery (Doubleday, 1995), The Great Citrus Book (Ten Speed Press, 1997) and The Great Mango Book, (Ten Speed Press, 2001).

Table of Contents

Introduction
Caribbean Culinary Essentials
Sustainability
Chef's Collaboration

Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Sweets
Cocktails

Resources
Jade Mountain
Acknowledgments
About the Author

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Allen Susser’s Green Fig & Lionfish (Books & Books Press) takes what we have learned from overfishing and uses it to help the ecosystem, truly a book for our times. The idea and the recipes are not to be missed.

-Mark Kurlansky, New York Times best-selling and James A. Beard award-winning author of Salt: A World History, Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, and Milk! A 10,000-Year Food Fracas.

From Florida, throughout the Caribbean, and down to my home of Saint Lucia, Chef Allen Susser raises awareness of the real threat posed by lionfish and a yummy way to help eliminate it. Fortunately, the pesky invader is quite tasty, and Chef Allen's fun recipes will brighten your table with their bold island flavors. Let's get them off the reef and onto your plate!

-Nina Compton, Saint Lucian culinary ambassador and native, chef/owner of Compère Lapin in New Orleans

Chef Allen has always been a champion of local, seasonal cooking, even before it was “cool.” With this cookbook he is promoting something even cooler … the sustainability of the seas, one of our most important natural resources, by giving us many amazing recipes for the damaging (and delicious!) lionfish.

-José Andrés: Author of several books, including Made in Spain, chef/owner of ThinkFoodGroup, educator, television personality, humanitarian

I love the ocean and I love to eat sustainable seafood. We must continue to keep our oceans healthy for future generations and for our own survival.

-Cindy Pawlcyn: Author of Mustards Grill Napa Valley, chef/owner Mustard’s Grill in Napa Valley, James Beard award-winning chef

At Le Bernardin, we spend our days evaluating seafood, which means not simply the quality, but also the ethics and sustainability of how they are harvested. We believe deeply in supporting the artisanal fishers that are seeking out the most sustainable methods and species. What we’ve recently discovered is that lionfish, an extremely invasive and detrimental species, are not difficult to catch and in fact have delicious and very versatile flesh. They are truly one of the best examples of sustainable fishing that I’m happy to encourage!

-Eric Ripert: Author of 32 Yolks: From the Mother’s Table to Working the Line, chef/ co-owner of Le Bernardin restaurant in New York

The first time I saw a Lionfish in the wild was many years ago, while snorkeling off the beach on Andros Island, Bahamas. Since then, as a fisherman and diver, from Bimini to the Keys and beyond, I have seen firsthand the devastation that these predators can cause to our fragile reef system. They’re easy to spear and have no fear of divers and their sting is VERY plentiful (unfortunately), but the good news is: They are out-of-this world table fare. Spearing them, we have eaten well. I only wish my dear friend Chef Allen was with us to cook! Chef Allen loves South Florida, its people and our natural resources. This is the perfect time for this book, and he’s the perfect person to write it!

-Paul Castronovo - Radio personality BIG 105.9, fisherman, diver, on the Board of Directors of both the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and OCEARCH

Making the right choices about what we eat has a broad impact on the world around us. In the case of lionfish, choosing to eat it as often as possible is the best way to protect our oceans. Eat them to beat them!

-Sheila Bowman -Seafood Watch Manager of Culinary & Strategic Initiatives at
Monterey Bay Aquarium, whose mission is to inspire conservation of the ocean.

I’ve known Allen Susser and followed his career with avid interest ever since he and some young colleagues pioneered back in the 1980’s what was then called ‘Floribbean Cuisine,’ and his new cookbook brings into 21st century focus everything he has learned and created in a style now uniquely his own and one highly influential among his peers both in Florida and throughout the Caribbean.

-John Mariani - One of America’s premier food writers with multiple James Beard Awards, lead food and travel correspondent for Esquire Magazine and author of several of the most highly regarded books on food, including The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink