The Finest Kind

Perhaps some of the problem is marketing, an art shrimpers here admit they have never mastered. Why would anyone buy farm-raised shrimp when they could have the natural harvest? Maybe because they don't understand the difference, suggests Christine Gala, another of Trico's co-owners. "There's just no comparison in terms of taste and quality to wild-caught shrimp," she says. "We catch our shrimp in clean, deep water. We use no chemicals, no preservatives. All we do is freeze them. The stuff raised in ponds, they have to give them hormones and antibiotics to even keep them alive." Her hope is that when the public realizes the difference, it will demand fresh Gulf shrimp.

Shrimping in Southwest Florida faces another challenge: growth. As the value of waterfront land skyrockets, the temptation to sell long-time family waterfront rises. Bob Rosenberg, who publishes the industry magazine Shrimp News, predicts that eventually, those who fish for shrimp will lose out to those who farm them.

The idea makes Gala seethe, although that's not to say that she hasn't had her doubts about shrimping. The daughter and granddaughter of shrimpers, Gala tried once to escape the industry's pull. "I swore I'd never marry a shrimper," she admits. And she didn't, strictly speaking. But after she married, her husband bought a shrimp boat. "And that was it," she says.

It's a life made increasingly tough by commercially farmed shrimp mostly arriving mostly from Asian equatorial countries and selling at prices well below cost for wild-caught native shrimp, according to Gala. These cheap imports have dragged domestic shrimp prices down, along with the locals who try to compete. "Prices today are the same as what they were 10 years ago," she says.

"Ten years? Try 30 years ago," says Joe Villers, who owns Villers Seafood with his father. "You have to go back to the '70s to find prices lower than what we have today. Labor over there is so much lower and they can raise them in ditches."

What Villers, Gala and other Gulf shrimpers who are in it for the long haul can compete with is taste. Their understandable bias toward wild-caught shrimp is shared by many critics and restaurateurs. In an article in the August issue of the Wine Spectator, food writer Sam Gugino likens the two tastes, wild and farmed, to young and aged wines. In addition to the flavor imparted to the meat by the sea's natural salinity, he writes, "Ocean shrimp also grow more slowly, which, like grapes with long hang time, adds to their flavor."

That flavor makes pilgrims and inspires converts. To Chitra Singh, standing next to her pearly Lexus on the working-class shoreline of San Carlos Island, flavor merits escaping her Naples shopping orbit to become-every three weeks or so-an expeditionary epicure.

There are hundreds like her, and if shrimpers had slicker marketers, most likely there would be thousands. "Coming here is like a tiny holiday," she says, emphasizing the first syllable and the word's original meaning: a tiny holy day.

Recipe

STEAMED SHRIMP

Though old-time shrimp recipes often call for long cooking times (in Cross Creek Cookery, originally published in 1942, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings prescribes 20 minutes in briskly boiling water), many cooks now eschew boiling completely.

Sanibel restaurateur and seafood expert Matt Asen recommends simply steaming shrimp for seven minutes, then plunging them into ice water. The result: Crisp, sweet shrimp that "taste like shrimp are supposed to taste."

Christine Gala's Skewered Shrimp

1 pound jumbo shrimp

1 pound bacon

Peeled onions, cut in thick chunks

Baby vegetables or cubed vegetables such as sweet bell peppers, cherry tomatoes and zucchini

Salt and pepper to taste

Wrap each shrimp in a strip of bacon and thread on skewers along with onions and vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then grill or broil until the shrimp is cooked through and the vegetables are tender-crisp.

Chitra Singh's Curried Shrimp

2 tomatoes, chopped fine

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garam masala or curry powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon coriander

1 1-inch cube fresh ginger, grated

1 or 2 fresh hot chilies, minced

Juice of 1 lemon

1 can unsweetened coconut milk

2 or 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 1/2 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and cleaned

About 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Hot cooked basmati rice

Shelled pistachios, if desired

Combine everything but the shrimp, oil and garlic in a saucepan and set aside. Over medium heat in a wide skillet,

heat the oil and sauté the garlic until it is golden. Add the shrimp and cook until the meat is evenly white. Heat the ingredients in the saucepan until they simmer, and with a slotted spoon, add the shrimp and any garlic that clings to them. Simmer everything a few minutes more, until flavors blend and shrimp is cooked through. Taste for seasonings and adjust, if necessary. Serve over rice and sprinkle with the pistachios.

Lillian Hovell's Steamed Rock Shrimp

Under their tough (but entirely peelable) shells, rock shrimp hide a sweet, tender interior. Fort Myers Beach resident and shrimp boat owner Mark Townley considers them to be some of the finest eating the Gulf has to offer. This recipe was handed out more than a decade ago at the blessing of the fleet and shrimp festival, which takes place on varying dates every spring, depending on the moon. (Shrimp hide when it's bright, making full moons a good time for shrimpers to stay in port and party.)

1 12-ounce bottle of beer

1 1/2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 clove garlic, minced

3 tablespoons dried juniper berries

2 pounds rock shrimp, heads removed, shells on

Juice of 1 lime

1 stick of butter

In the bottom of a steamer, combine the beer, Old Bay, three cloves garlic and juniper berries and bring to a boil. Place the shrimp in the top portion of the steamer, cover and steam until the shrimp are firm and cooked through, about seven minutes, stirring once or twice to ensure even cooking.

Remove the shrimp and place under cold running water, then pat dry.

Melt the butter, add the lime juice and minced garlic, and serve as a dipping sauce.