We’ve wanted to hook chef Reneé Touponce for an interview for a long time! She’s the executive chef at Oyster Club and The Port of Call, a nautical-themed cocktail lounge and restaurant in Mystic. She’s also the Connecticut Restaurant Association’s “Best Chef” of 2022 and a James Beard Award-nominee. She joins us to talk about her approach to cooking seafood and how it serves as a creative muse.

Plus, Valentine Thomas, a professional spearfisherwoman, ocean conservationist, and sustainability-focused cook, discusses her book Good Catch. She’ll share tips for grilling fish and explain why we might want to eat more of it.

And, Carolyn Wyman, author of The Great Clam Cake and Fritter Guide offers her picks for Connecticut’s seafood shacks making the tastiest clam cakes and fritters.

GUESTS:

• Reneé Touponce: Executive Chef at Oyster Club and The Port of Call in Mystic. (@reneetouponce)
• Valentine Thomas: Author of Good Catch: A Guide to Sustainable Fish and Seafood with Recipes from the World’s Oceans (@valentinethomas)
• Carolyn Wyman: Author of The Great Clam Cake and Fritter Guide: Why We Love Them, How to Make Them, and Where to Find Them from Maine to Virginia

FEATURED RECIPES:
Fish Puttanesca
Oysters, Three Ways
Corn Chowder

LEARN MORE:
Reneé Touponce shouted out a trio of local seafood sources who’ve given her a deeper appreciation for the ingredients she cooks with every day:
Sea Well Seafood (want to see a monk fish?)
Will Ceddia – Sixpenny Oyster Farm (@sixpenny_oysters)
Suzie Flores – Stonington Kelp Co. (@stoningtonkelpco)

Listen to Will and Suzie talk about ocean farming in Connecticut in an episode from Seasoned's archive.

In her segment about spearfishing and seafood, Valentine Thomas referenced this recent study about the connection between seafood consumption during pregnancy and IQ.

Want to go on a clam cake crawl? Here are Carolyn Wyman’s picks for the best clam fritters in Connecticut:
Deary Brothers/Mike’s Stand in Putnam
Hank’s Dairy Bar in Plainfield
Johnny Ad’s in Old Saybrook
The Lobster Shack in East Haven
Sea Swirl in Mystic

This show was produced by Robyn Doyon-Aitken, Catie Talarski, Meg Dalton, Katrice Claudio, Stephanie Stender, Meg Fitzgerald, Tagan Engel and Sabrina Herrera. Our interns are Carol Chen and Stacey Addo.

Dive into all of the nautical themed stories airing this week on Connecticut Public's original talk shows by visiting ctpublic.org/nautiweek.

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