The Banks Fish House

Fish House Opera

Saltbox Seafood Joint Cookbook

Ricky Moore was born and reared in the North Carolina coastal town of New Bern, where catching and eating fresh fish and shellfish is what people do. Today, Moore is one of the most widely admired chefs to come out of the region. In this cookbook, he tells the story of how he started his wildly popular Saltbox Seafood Joint® restaurants and food truck in Durham, North Carolina. Moore, a formally trained chef, was led by a culinary epiphany in the famous wet markets of Singapore to start a restaurant focused purely on the food inspired by the Carolina coast and its traditional roadside fish shacks and camps. Saltbox Seafood Joint's success is a testament to Moore's devotion to selecting the freshest seasonal ingredients every day and preparing them perfectly. In sixty recipes that celebrate his coastal culinary heritage, Moore instructs cooks how to prepare Saltbox Seafood Joint dishes. This cookbook, written with K. C. Hysmith, explains how to pan-fry and deep-fry, grill and smoke, and cook up soups, chowders, stews, and grits and seafood. Moore has taken pity on us and even included the recipe for his famous Hush-Honeys®, an especially addictive hushpuppy. Charts and illustrations in the book explain the featured types, availability, and cuts of fish and shellfish used in the recipes.

Commercial Fishing on the Outer Banks

Fishing on the Outer Banks for subsistence began over 1,000 years ago with the Algonquin Indians, who made their summer camps on the islands. They came for the seafood and learned how to fish for various species during each season. Some of their fishing methods are still used by local watermen. The early settlers to the area were also fishers for sustenance. It was not until the Civil War, however, when they became commercial fishermen. Historic shad runs combined with the building of infrastructure such as an ice plant, roads, and bridges finally made possible the exportation of their catches to northern markets. In the 1950s, tourists started trickling in, and restaurants began dotting the landscape, promoting the consumption of fresh seafood. Today, in an economy ruled by tourism, fishing for profit still plays a strong role. What began in the 1660s with a shipment of 80 barrels of whale oil has continued to the present with internationally coveted catches of bluefin tuna. Although the fishing industry is threatened today as never before, commercial fishermen will continue to develop new markets and fight for their livelihoods.