“Fish to taste right must swim three times – in water, in butter, and in wine.”

Polish proverb

Several people have asked us about our food experience while we were out on Pensacola Beach last week. It was, in a word, delicious.

First I’d like to give a shout-out to the crabs (two large pots) who graciously showed up at the beach house one evening courtesy of neighbor Chris Crooke, who is constantly harvesting crab traps out on the dock.

Then there was all the mullet that kept enthusiastically jumping and splashing around the end of the pier. Their water aerobics were certainly entertaining, but they were even better marinated and fried.

I did a good job cooking the fresh grouper fillets we picked up at the seafood market, serving them with twice-baked potatoes and asparagus. But then the fish tasted even better the evening we went out to eat, when the grouper was prepared with a heavy-cream sauce and mashed potatoes.

The seafood was followed by the inevitable, “We’re on vacation so I’m eating this brownie with ice-cream don’t even think about stopping me!”

I guess the four-five pounds I put on during our time away had to come from somewhere.

Plus there was delicious sea bass, and baked oysters, and – just to give ourselves a day off from fresh gulf seafood – steak.

All in all good eating for sure.

My favorite? Probably the oysters. No… maybe the grouper. Or… I could make a case for the crab. Then of course there was the sea bass – so very good with the black beans and creamed spinach.

In a word, then, “yes.” The eating was better than good it was amazing.

But then eating from the bounty of the sea is very much an atmospheric experience. Seafood out on the island – much like cappuccino enjoyed in a piazza in Tuscany – always tastes better because we were in exactly the right setting, looking out over the gulf and listening to the waves break on the shore.

Salt water, fresh air, sunshine, a plate of oysters and a tall glass of something cold and refreshing.

Bon Appétit! – DEREK