per·i·pa·tet·ic
ˌperēpəˈtedik/
adjective
  1. 1.
    traveling from place to place, especially working or based in various places for relatively short periods.
    "the peripatetic nature of military life"
    synonyms:nomadic, itinerant, traveling, wandering, roving, roaming, migrant,migratory, unsettled
    "I could never get used to her peripatetic lifestyle"
  2. 2.
    Aristotelian.
noun
  1. 1.
    a person who travels from place to place.
  2. 2.
    an Aristotelian philosopher.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

We 'Sea' Pork at Bald Point State Park in Florida (and Eat Fried Grouper)

Sea pork, Aplidium stellatum, seen at Bald Point State Park, Florida, on January 8, 2011
We Sea Pork

Sea creatures on the beach
Are messing up the sand
They squish beneath our feet in shoes
Where SAM and I will stand

We find one called sea pork
In colors that astound
And would not be surprised at all
If dinner may be found

WAIT! (They say)...

We're tunicates, you see,
And filtering's our thing!
If bathtubs were where we lived
There would not be a ring!

Okay, so we passed on the sea pork and stopped on the way back to Tallahassee at a seafood market. The grouper and some large gulf shrimp looked way more appetizing than those blobs of cellulose we found washed up on the beach. According to my beach guide, Florida's Living Beaches (A Guide for the Curious Beachcomber), written by Blair and Dawn Witherington, tunicates and humans share some early development characteristics: gill slits, a rigid notochord, and a hollow nerve cord. In fact, sea pork is in the phylum Chordata along with birds, fish, and humans. We're all just one big, happy phylum!

The larval tunicates look like tadpoles and swim freely before they settle down with each other to form colonies of zooids and attach themselves to something in the sea. Then they secrete that tough cellulose--tunic--that wraps them up together and protects them as adults. All warm and snuggly now, they go to work filtering water that ebbs and flows past them with the tide, eating nearly all of the bacteria (95% or so) in the water. Too bad that secret information didn't get passed on to their big, hairy relatives--humans. We're pretty good at creating a septic problem but not so efficient at cleaning it up. You'd think we'd know better by now.

Here's how I fixed those grouper filets:

Dip fish filets (rinsed and dried with paper towel) in flour mixed with salt and herbs. Turn to coat both sides. Then dip in egg beaten together with about 1/2 cup half-and-half. Coat thoroughly with egg mixture. Finally, place filets in finely chopped pecans and turn over to cover both sides with the nuts. Pan fry in several tablespoons of olive oil heated to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit--177 C-- (if the oil is too hot the nuts might burn). Turn as each side browns. Fish is done when it flakes easily.

Bon appetit!

27 comments:

  1. Yum! Sounds like a great way to fix that fine fish. Since I visited Florida when my son was there for a few years I was exposed more than once to that excellent fish (He worked in one of the restaurants on the beach in Fernandina Beach.).

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  2. P.S. Love those photos! Especially since we have 8 inches of snow on the ground and it's 17 degrees at the moment.

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  3. Sounds like you went the healthy route with that fish. Good on ya! I wish I was that health conscious:)

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  4. Ciss B, it's one of the mildest tasting fish and so popular in the restaurants. Also kinda pricey, but the seafood market was one of those no-frills places. We may have gotten our money's worth with the grouper, but I think we got cheated on the shrimp. Still, they were very fresh tasting; best I've had in a while. I'll probably catch heck from some northerners about the beach pics. Really, it was a bit chilly with a north wind blowing. I had on my coat and didn't even go barefoot!

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  5. TFB, I hope you don't mean you've tried the sea pork?!

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  6. We're one happy phylum, huh?! Can't imagine having sea pork as a sibbling...LOL! Like the way you brought it down to a nice filling recipe with the fish filets! And thanks for all that info, I would have otherwise not have known ;P

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  7. Very nice poem that you created with rhyming lines about the Sea Pork..In fact i liked it very well..It is a new information that turnicates are the primitives of human beings..hope to get introduced with many more unknown creatures through your upcoming posts..

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  8. Yeah, RGB, I don't think sea pork sis would be welcome at the next family reunion:) I'm glad you like the post with recipe.

    Thanks, Tomz! I love to come up with silly poems. My daughter and I collaborated on a song (she wrote the music; I helped with the words) so she could remember some boring facts for a test she had to take. Why can't learning be fun?

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  9. I've never heard of sea pork before, but it certainly doesn't sound appetizing:) But a bacteria-eating organism sounds like something we could use more of!

    A walk on the beach sounds heavenly right now--we're covered in snow once again, and I'm watching road conditions to see if I'm going to have any problems driving to Indy to pick up my daughter from the airport. She's going to have a rude awakening coming from Phoenix back to the deep freeze here:)

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  10. The sea pork is sooooo cool. Do you think they helped to eat and dissipate all that oil? I hope so. Happy New Year to ya!

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  11. Fun to see a beach and blue skies during my blizzard. Fried grouper is tasty and your recipe sounds even better than what I’ve had before. Funny poem too.

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  12. Rose, isn't it wonderful that nature has a solution for just about any problem we can dream of? I wouldn't be surprised if sea pork comes in handy for some medical purpose. I hope your drive wasn't a white knuckle one yesterday!

    Tina, I was wondering that too about the oil. I know there are tiny organisms in the sea that eat oil, and they work especially well in the warm Gulf waters. I haven't heard anything about the sea pork digging in and helping themselves to an oil feast, though. Happy New Year to you!

    Sarah, stay safe and warm in that cold Maine weather! I'm glad I could brighten the day for you.

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  13. Fantastic photos, and the fish sounds lovely. I'm jealous!

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  14. My mouth is watering just reading this.

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  15. Thanks, Talli, for stopping by and commenting. I'm glad you're following too. The jealousy is mutual since I saw those pictures of your trip to Egypt.

    Hello, Angela! I'll be adding more recipes every so often, so feel free to stop by anytime and drool! Thanks for commenting and following.

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  16. Sea Pork is certainly new to me, but I'm a land lubber. Phun poem you wrote for that, and I think I'm glad you didn't eat any of it. Thanks for stopping by my blog and sharing.

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  17. Oh!!! I just noticed you are follower # 300 to my blog. Thanks so much for helping me reach that landmark!!!

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  18. I liked the poem, the biology lesson, the grouper recipe and most of all.... the heads up on the State Park. I've been working on a list of Parks and Wildlife refuges near the Gulf Coast as shortly we will be driving that way to visit Mrs. T's cousin in Barefoot Bay FL. This is our first time not flying and I thought what the heck lets bird on the way. :)

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  19. Hello, Scott, and welcome! I'm glad I could help you reach 300. It will be a while before I get there:) Thanks for taking me a step closer. I do love your photography and your upbeat attitude so evident on your blog.

    Hey, TB! I'm happy to help with info on the parks. Even though it's not directly on the coast, you really should consider visiting Wakulla Springs and take the boat tour. It's a birding mecca, I've heard. I think you're going to enjoy your visit more by driving down to Florida. Give me a head's up if you're passing through Tally, and maybe SAM and I can meet up with you and your wife.

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  20. Interesting. I've never heard of them before. Recently we've encountered an interesting creature washed up on Naples Beach that I haven't been able to identify. Not quite Sea Pork, but it could be something close.

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  21. Hi Walk to Write .. thanks for finding me - and I'm so glad I'm here .. a blog after my own heart!! Love it and the pics - gorgeous, let alone the yummy supper ..

    See you next time .. cheers Hilary

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  22. This was our first encounter with sea pork too, Mr. S. I was thrilled! I love it when we happen on something out of the ordinary. The beach is one of the best places for that to happen.

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  23. Hello and welcome, HMB! I've added you to my blog list so I will see whenever you post something new. Thanks for stopping by.

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  24. Thanks for stopping by my place!

    I love reading about things like this - and I've never heard of "sea pork" - who knew! :-D

    I'm trying to remember if I've ever had grouper - it's been a while, but I do love salt water fish - and though we can get Atlantic and Gulf shrimp here, I think I like Gulf shrimp better -it's less "briny" or "salty" and more sweet.

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  25. Welcome, Kathryn, another new follower. Thank you! You may not have easy access to fresh ocean fish, but oh, those mountains! I would love to trade places with you, at least in the summer. I agree with you about the Gulf shrimp. They are sweeter tasting. The oysters are too, or so my husband tells me.

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  26. It's Time to Live, yep, no leftovers either. If you're ever in Tallahassee, drop us a note, and I'll set an extra place or two at the table. Thanks for stopping by.

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