FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2002
Chef Lee to Test and Develop Shad Recipes
CHARLESTON---Frank Lee, nationally known chef and partner at Slightly North of Broad Restaurant in Charleston has agreed to test and develop shad recipes. If his research is successful in producing restaurant-quality, consumer-friendly recipes, Chef Lee could literally help feed the world by making shad a fish of choice for millions.
Charles Schuster, Food Inspector with the SC Department of Agriculture, said, “I am concerned that there will be no commercial fishing in South Carolina in the future if present trends continue.” “Shad offers the greatest potential of all the seafood species harvested in the state,” he added. Currently, the roe is consumed, but the rest of the fish is used mainly as crab bait.
Shad is a migratory fish species located in North America, Europe, and Asia. Shad are anadromous fish, swimming from the open sea up rivers to reach their spawning grounds. Like all anadromous fish, shad are born in fresh water, start to grow in fresh water, migrate to salt water for most of their lives, and return to fresh water after 3 to 6 years to mate. The shad migration begins along the North American Atlantic Coast in Georgia in January and concludes in Nova Scotia in July.
The problem with shad has been its 769 bones, strong taste, and oily content, so chefs and restaurateurs have avoided using the fish in their recipes. Once considered the "poor man's salmon," it has been said that shad prevented General Washington and his troops from starving during the winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge. A diverse fish, shad can be stuffed and baked or broiled or grilled. The shad roe can be cooked in a frying pan or broiled.
If Chef Lee successfully produces recipes using shad, the fish could prove to be a new source for commercial fishing operators in South Carolina and a new food product for chefs and restaurateurs throughout the state.
For more information about shad, call Charles Schuster, SCDA Food Inspector, at 843-553-2354 or Gerry Bonnette, South Carolina Department of Agriculture Marketing Specialist, at 803-734-2200.