Would you pay $40 for one ostrich egg?

At Whole Foods Market in Paramus on Thursday, shoppers were offered samples of scrambled ostrich egg.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

I do a lot of gawking when I'm in Whole Foods Market in Paramus -- and not just at the prices.

On Thursday, I saw a California-raised ostrich egg for sale in the produce department.

I wouldn't pay $39.99 for such a huge egg. Would you?

I loved the big-yolk duck eggs sold at Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff, but stopped buying them when the price shot up to about $2 an egg. 

At Whole Foods, a cook offered samples of scrambled ostrich egg. He said the yolk was bigger than his fist.

Guess what? It tasted like a chicken egg.

It's a fish-eat-fish world.

At the fish counter, I gawked at the heads of a grouper and a monkfish displayed on a bed of ice.

The monkfish (at right in the photo) came from Barnegat Light, one of New Jersey's premier fishing ports.

Fresh, wild-caught coho salmon fillet was $16.99, compared to the $10.99 a pound my wife paid on Wednesday at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

I bought frozen, antibiotic-free chicken backs and necks for $1.29 a pound and frozen, organic chicken feet for $3.99 a pound (all for soup).

Honesty is always on sale at Whole Foods

Whole Foods Market names the New Jersey fishing port, the day boat and the captain who landed these sea scallops. "Dry" means no preservatives were added.

As someone who prefers fish over fowl, I always look over the seafood counter when I visit Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

Whole Foods doesn't sell live lobster, but remains tops when it comes to fresh seafood -- delivered seven days a week, much of it from its own processing facility.

This past Thursday, I got a kick out of the sign with local day-boat sea scallops -- naming the port, boat and even the captain.

These were big, U-10 scallops -- about 10 to the pound -- and were priced at $24.99 a pound. 

If you eat pork, what more do you need to know?

Opposite the butcher counter, the store advertised its naturally raised bacon with a sign painted on the floor in front of a refrigerated case.

This is the kind of honesty we should find at every food store and restaurant, but sadly Whole Foods is nearly alone in telling consumers where produce, meat and seafood come from and how they were raised, grown or caught.

We have to rely on the store or restaurant for this kind of information, because outside of Consumer  Reports magazine, few newspapers or other publications bother to report on the origin of the food we buy.

The so-called consumer columnist at my local daily newspaper doesn't even acknowledge the existence of organic food.

Pistachio-coated Sea Scallops at Palm Restaurant in Manhattan.

On Thursday, Whole Foods had organic California red grapes on sale for $2.29 a pound -- a discount of more than 30%. I bought 2.65 pounds.

I also picked up naturally raised beef liver for my wife, son and mother-in-law from the butcher counter's frozen meat case, priced at $3.99 a pound.

My daily grind

My first stop on Thursday was Fairway Market, also in Paramus, to replenish my stock of freshly ground coffee.

The Brazil Dark Roast was the only one on sale, for $6.99 a pound, so I asked for 2 pounds Turkish 
grind.

The selection of freshly roasted beans at Fairway Market in Paramus.

I also took advantage of a sale on those wonderful Campari hothouse tomatoes -- three 1-pound packages for $5 (not $3, as I wrote originally).

I love extra-virgin olive oil, but won't pay the $17 or $18 a liter for some of the better ones at Fairway.

Luckily, the store allows shoppers to sample the oils by soaking small pieces of baguette in them.

My guilty pleasure was taking four heels -- the ends of the bread -- and soaking them in expensive bright-  and dark-green olive oils. Delish.

Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Pasta for breakfast.

Whole-wheat pasta

I've been eating whole-wheat pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner since I gave up virtually all bread and pizza to lose weight.

The pasta, along with brown rice, gives me the same full, satisfied feeling I got from bread, but my body processes it better and I am still able to lose weight gradually.

Now, Consumer Reports magazine has given its "Very Good" rating and recommended organic whole-wheat spaghetti from Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market.

The magazine's October 2012 issue, which I just got in the mail, calls both "sweet, nutty, whole-grain flavor, chewy texture much like regular pasta."

I've been buying Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti, Fusilli and Penne for more than a year. A 16-ounce package is $1.39.

Whole Foods sells organic whole-wheat spaghetti under the 365 Everyday Value brand, but it cost more than Trader Joe's version.

Blessing of the fishing fleet at Barnegat Light

The Fishery (2015).

On Sunday, we attended the blessing of the commercial and recreational fishing fleets at Barnegat Light, famed for its lighthouse and its fresh seafood, including bluefin tuna exported to Japan and monkfish sold in South Korea. 

You can also find fish and scallops from this old port on the ice at Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

The image of the shore town's lighthouse is found everywhere, from the paving stones in a resi

dent's driveway to the striking blue stained-glass windows of St. Peter's at the Light Episcopal Church, which had an Evensong service by the Valley Forge Choir of Men and Boys. 

Unfortunately, a thunderstorm blew in during the blessing of the fleet at the yacht basin, sending everyone scattering to their cars and cancelling the procession of boats through the inlet.

We did takeout from Viking Fresh Off the Hook, including the delicious sea scallops the port is known for, and ate our food at Minerva's, the B&B where we spent the night. 

On the way home Monday, we stopped at The Fishery on Route 35 in South Amboy for a lunch of lobster bisque, clam chowder, steamed Jersey clams and colossal wild shrimp (six to a pound).

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

Weekend at the sea

Image by WildVanilla (Rob) via Flickr
The lighthouse at Barnegat Light.

Our weekend at the sea was also a seafood weekend.


We drove down to Barnegat Light, a New Jersey fishing port at the northern end of Long Beach Island, and stayed at a B&B called Minerva's By The Sea. At the end of the street was Kubel's, which opened in 1927, and we had dinner there Friday and lunch Saturday. Unfortunately, Off the Hook, a takeout place for great prepared seafood, and many other places we have enjoyed in years past, had not opened for the season.


But fresh fish and shellfish is one of the reasons we return to the Jersey Shore year after year, and we weren't disappointed. Friday night, we had a great piece of halibut with small shrimp in a light tomato sauce, served on a bed of sauteed spinach; steamed clams and Alaskan king crab legs. We had flounder and crab cake sandwiches for lunch the next day, along with steamed clams and clams on the half shell.


In search of lobster Saturday night, we had dinner at the Engleside Inn in Beach Haven, one of the most popular towns on Long Beach Island. But the restaurant had no whole lobsters, only South African lobster tails. We ordered those, panko-covered scallops from Barnegat Light and a yellowtail tuna sushi roll. Only the too-thick lobster bisque was disappointing.


Our best seafood meal awaited us on the road back to North Jersey. A small building with some peeling paint on the exterior and the word "Fishery" on Route 35 in Sayreville (732-721-9100) had closed in the year or so since we had been there and had been reopened by a man from Greece about a month ago. He kept the menu, prices and recipes, adding distinctly Greek touches.


We started with small bowls of a light lobster bisque that tasted of sherry and Maine lobster, clam and corn chowder. Great. The steamed clams were outstanding, surpassing the ones we had at the shore. They came with a small cup of butter plus another cup with clam broth, garlic, herbs and white wine. Wow!


We also ordered the grilled whole bronzini from Greece on the specials list ($21.95). The fish, which we had seen nestled in ice in The Fishery's seafood display, came topped with a white wine sauce that contained whole garlic cloves, and was accompanied with rice and sauteed fresh spinach. It looked to be about 14 inches long. My son took the tail portion, my wife took the head and all of us shared the delicious white flesh in the middle. We only had room for a little of our second entree, perfectly fried whiting, which we took home.


There had been signs of an auspicious weekend. At the Whole Foods Market opening Thursday (see earlier post), I saw a whole monkfish with a sign that it had come from Barnegat Light, where Scandinavian fishermen settled in the 1920s. Then we learned that Minerva's, the B&B where we stayed, is in a building that once housed a fish wholesaler. The top-floor kitchen, where we had breakfast Saturday and Sunday, was where the wholesaler prepared fish for customers from Europe, Japan, China and elsewhere, said our host, Emma.