“Fish was Fried”

Back before it was broiled, scalloped, or étouffée’d, there was only one way you got your seafood: golden brown, crispy, and piled high. And back before fresh fish found its way to grocery stores inland, there was only one way to get it: You had to go to the beach.

The Hope of Fish Town: Wanchese Fish Company

If it isn’t a hurricane, it’s the price of gas. If it isn’t a bad spawning season, it’s a closing inlet. In Wanchese, it’s always something. But Mikey Daniels — the leading son of the leading family here — spreads nets all over the world and proves that even small-town fishermen can always find a way.

The Oyster Way

It’s sometimes raw and sometimes steamed and sometimes fried. It never moves. But it always works. And we should be kinder to it. The oyster is good to us.