With the growing trend to reintroduce US-caught seafood into our culinary lexicon, this trustworthy reference will be the go-to source for home cooks, culinary students, professional chefs, and anyone fascinated by American food culture. American Seafood looks at maritime history, including Native American fisheries; fishing technology (including aquaculture); the effect of imports on our diet, economy, and the health of our seas; the biology of taste; and the evolution of seafood cuisine, from Pine Bark Stew, red and white chowder, Po Boys, and Clam Bakes, to Baltimore Crab Cakes, Planked Salmon, Oysters Rockefeller, and Sushi. And although this is not a cookbook, Barton Seaver presents invaluable information on traditional culinary arts and his favorite ideas for taste pairings and preferred methods for cooking seafood. An index of species with common, regional, and accepted names, all alphabetized rounds out this must-have volume.

"A catalog of more than 500 species"--Cover.

Introduction : Salt in our veins -- A life's work : the character of fishermen -- Tribute to the lost : honoring those who slipped beneath the sea -- Our changing oceans : the hand of man in a dynamic environment -- Catch of the day : consumer demand and our evolving tastes -- Hook, line, and sinker : fishing methods through the centuries -- Heading in : exploring our inland fisheries -- Aquaculture : farming our seas -- Merroir : taste of the sea and all things in it -- All that's old is new again : artisan preservation methods and early cuisine -- A fish by any other name : seafood nomenclature -- A short list of fellow fish lovers -- Fish species : a complete catalog of American seafood.