Seafood cookery from Carteret County kitchens

2 pounds fillets, steaks or 1 teaspoon salt pan-dressed fish 1/8 teaspoon pepper l egg 1 tablespoon milk or water 1 cup bread crumbs, cracker crumbs, cornmeal or flour Cut fish into serving-size portions. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pep- per. Beat egg slightly and blend in the milk. Dip the fish in the egg and roll in crumbs. Use a deep kettle with a frying basket and enough fat to cover the fish, but do not have the kettle more than half full of fat. Heat the fat to 375 degrees. Place a layer of fish in the frying basket and cook to an even golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Raise basket, remove fish, and drain on absorbent paper. Serve immediately on a hot platter, plain or with a sauce. Serves 6. 94 BAKED FLOUNDER 3 or 4 pound flounder, dressed 1% teaspoons salt 4 tablespoons butter or other fat, 3 slices bacon melted 6 medium potatoes, cut in 1/8 2 medium onions, sliced inch slices Clean, wash, and dry fish. Rub inside and out with salt. Place fish in greased baking pan. Bank with potatoes and onions. Sprinkle potatoes and onions with salt and pepper (lightly). Pour about 4 cup water over fish. Brush top with melted butter and lay slices of bacon over top of fish. Bake in a moder- ate oven (350 degrees), basting occasionally, until potatoes are tender and fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve right from the oven on a hot platter. Jo McCabe CHARCOALED MULLET Mullets weighing 1 to 14% pounds apiece are best for charcoaling. Split mullet down back, leave backbone in on one side. Place on boards flesh side up. Sprinkle heavily with salt. Let stand 15-20 minutes. Rinse salt off and lay in sun, flesh side up. Leave in sun until dry or no water appears on surface. (Cheesecloth spread over fish will protect the fish from flies and other insects.) Place on grill, flesh side down, and cook until brown. Turn and baste with sauce (your favorite). Cook until brown on both sides, basting frequently. A mixture of butter, lemon juice and vinegar makes a good basting sauce for char- coal mullet. ‘“Bump’” Styron Morehead City, N. C. Notes 96 OYSTERS The American oyster, Crassostrea Virginica, ranges extensively off the Atlantic coast from the Gulf of St. Lawrence along the shores of North America into the Gulf of Mexico. This distribution covers an unusually wide range of temperature and the species is abundant throughout the range. North Carolina is ideally suited, geographically, for oysters since it is located about midway between the extreme in the range of distribution. The winters are not severe nor are the summers excessively hot. Also, in comparison with other oyster areas, this is one area with a relative ab- sence of the many enemies of the oyster. The oyster is a bivalve mollusk, with one of its shells much larger than the other. This unusual animal starts life as a female and later be- comes a male! This species of oyster grows in the bays, sounds and la- goons along the coast. Except for a brief period in their life, oysters are attached to the substrate. For this reason it is important in harvesting oysters to return the shells to the area from which they were taken, thus giving the young oysters a place of attachment. Oysters are collected by dredges, tongs, or by hand. Although oysters may spawn at different times of the year in various parts of the country, in Carteret County the spawning season is from May to August 1 (or the months without ‘‘R’’).