On Tuesday February 19th Brian Isaeff and Mike Salas hit the bricks with 3 new items to show off. Mike formerly of SMS Seafood the seafood procurement division of Alliant is now with Empress Ltd Seafood. Mike's ability to source and secure location specific, custom value added, and natural products is his strong point. Last year Mike was able to secure a clean, origin pacific shrimp for the Pebble Beach Company. On this trip Mike had a "Shrimp topper", a pre-skewered 41-50 count Shrimp-split and skewered. This item runs roughly 35-40 cents each and comes packed about 44 skewer per 2Lb bag, 5 bags per case.
Two frozen tuna items were big hits. Both items are by-products of South Pacific Ahi Tuna. They were both treated with a tasteless wood smoke and then cryogenically frozen.
Previously, putting sushi-grade tuna into the freezer was tantamount to throwing it away. Once the translucent red flesh hits standard freezing temperatures (minus 10 degrees F), it quickly turns to a less-appealing chocolate brown. Because oxidation darkens its color in only a matter of hours, getting tuna to the market fresh has always been a battle against the clock.
The solution combines old and new technologies. Take wood-smoke processing and filter it with state-of-the-art equipment, and you have “tasteless smoke.” The filtered wood smoke penetrates the fish without imparting a smoky odor or taste, while preserving its color, flavor, texture and, most importantly, its value.
The first item was a tuna scape. Scrape is perfect for teka maki, smoking, salads, stir fry's and more. Running roughly $3.00 per pound this is a versatile by product.
The second item called Crazy Cuts run about $3.50 per pound and can be used in any
small chunked tuna recipes.The feedback from customers was all positive, with special orders being placed as we traveled.
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