- One of the best parts about living in Alabama is that we've got direct access to Gulf Coast seafood.

(bright music) Today, we're going straight to the source to learn how some of our seafood is caught, then how to properly cook it up and enjoy it in a myriad of ways.

(bright music continues) (graphics popping) (bright adventurous music) (bright adventurous music continues) I'm on Shell Belt Road down on the docks, surrounded by shrimp boats where all the magic happens, loaded with all that seafood gold.

Not a whole lot of shrimp boats up in the mountains, so I'm interested to see what it's all about my first time shrimping.

(bright adventurous music continues) I'm here on the Emily Ariel in Bayou La Batre with Captain Woody and Captain Jacob.

I've been learning a little bit about shrimping and how to say Bayou La Batre.

(Woody chuckling softly) It's hard to say in Appalachian.

- [Woody] There you go.

- So how long have you been shrimping?

- Since I was about 13, 14 years old.

- So a couple years to know the ins and outs?

- [Woody] Oh yeah.

- And what about you?

- About the same, since I was about 13, 14.

(chuckles) - So I heard they teach you to drive a boat down here before you actually even drive a car?

- Yep.

- Is that right?

- That's right.

- Aw yeah.

- So tell me, what's a typical day like when you're out on a shrimp boat?

- Hoping you get some rest.

- [Jacob] Yeah.

- Y'all get up at what time?

- Whenever the shrimp get up.

(Jacob chuckling) - You go 'round the clock.

- Is there a certain time that they seem to feed or come up?

Or how's the whole process work?

- Sometimes- - Depends on what type of shrimp.

- Nighttime, daytime.

- And so when you go out, are the types of shrimp, just, do they vary?

Or are you just catching... Do you go out on winter expecting to catch one thing?

- Depends on the time of the year.

Certain times of year, certain shrimp.

- Yeah.

- How much shrimp do you catch when you go out for this 30-day period?

Because I didn't even realize y'all go out for 30 days.

That's a long time.

- Last year, after that snow, right here off the south of the fairway, I had 178 boxes that night.

- [Trace] 178 in one night?

- [Woody] Sure did.

- It's incredible.

- Boxes, that's not pounds, either.

- That's 100 pounds.

- That's 100-pound boxes.

- [Trace] 100 pounds?

- 17,000-something.

- [Trace] Tell me about the freezing process on the boat, too.

- They're huge.

- [Trace] So you get all the shrimp, I mean, you can't just let it sit around.

- We dropped anchor eight o'clock that morning.

It took us 'til five to get 'em off the deck into sacks, and it took us the next day to that next night to run 'em through the tank.

- It's quite a process.

- Darn tootin', it is.

- Yeah.

- How much does it cost to fill a boat up like this?

- We just spent right at 60 grand to fill up.

- [Trace] 60,000, wow.

- $60,000.

- And how much before the fuel prices jumped was it to fill up a boat?

- Half, 30.

- Half, wow.

- Half, 30, yeah.

- 30,000, that's a big trip.

- I think people who go and sit down, and they're like, "Man, this is the most expensive shrimp," they think y'all are making all the money.

- No.

- There's quite a process that goes into it, right?

- Oh yeah, it's probably 10 people got their hands in it before it gets to there.

(chuckles) - So tell me about how local seafood, how it impacts a local community?

Because it's more than just, like, the shrimpers on the boat.

It's the whole community that works for it, right?

- Everybody around here has pretty much got a tie to something.

You got a net man, you got people that build your doors, people that you got to go get cable, supplies from the supply store.

- So there's, like, 10 different steps for a shrimp to get to someone's plate.

- Yeah.

- What are the steps?

- We catch 'em and then we sell 'em to wholesale.

Pretty much everybody else, they sell to a wholesaler, like a big dock, goes to a few different hands before it comes to a plate, and they're selling five, 10 shrimp for $20, $30 a plate.

- Tell me the difference between a shrimp that's farm-raised versus the ocean.

Tell me a little bit about that.

- Yeah, they just got a whole different taste.

I mean, you can't get nothing like a fresh shrimp.

- No.

- Well, different texture, too.

- Oh yeah.

More like rubbery, it's nasty.

- Yeah.

Y'all been having a little trouble with some sharks, right?

- [Woody] Oh man.

- [Jacob] Yeah, they eat you up.

- [Woody] They eat you up.

- [Trace] So were they attacking the nets for the shrimp, obviously, right?

- Fish.

- We had a- - Fish?

- [Jacob] Fish get stuck in the webbing.

They gill their self in there, and then they just, it's like a snack sitting right there for 'em.

- What brings you back to the boat every time?

What's your favorite part about being a shrimper?

- I just love it.

- Yeah.

- Like I say, when you pull that try net and you got a heck of a try, you know, that's it.

That does it for it.

- There ain't no feeling like that.

- Yeah, that does it for you.

- Oh man.

Ain't nothing like it whenever you're out here, 'cause like, you'll be beat down to your last, and then you get that try, and it's like, just brings you back.

(chuckles) You either love it or you hate it.

It's a fast life, but it's fun.

I mean, I don't know, I love shrimping.

That's all I've ever done.

- And the freedom of it.

- Yeah, kinda leave the dock, not say when you want, but pretty much when you want, I mean... - Yeah.

- I feel like I'm doing the same thing at home except with dirt instead of water.

- [Jacob] Yeah.

(chuckles) - The farm raised me.

- Well, it is, that's farming of the sea.

- It is, yeah, just a little bit different.

What's y'all's favorite way to eat shrimp?

- Fried, I like 'em fried.

- I like 'em fried.

- That's mine, too, you can't go wrong with it.

- No.

- My wife does a good shrimp and grits, that's good.

- Yeah, shrimp and grits.

- What's her secret?

We're making shrimp and grits on this episode, so what's her secret?

- Well, I don't- - I'm gonna need to get her number so I can get that recipe.

- I'll give you her number.

- I'm gonna be calling her.

- But I cut jalapenos up and put 'em in mine.

- Shrimp and grits?

- Cook the jalapenos and onions down with shrimp.

- Yeah, and there's- - And then cook it in that juice.

- That's good pairing, a little bit of heat, too?

- [Jacob] Yeah.

- What's the wrong way to cook a shrimp?

Like, for your home cook, what's the worst thing you can do?

- If you get pond-raised.

(chuckles) - Yeah.

- You can't go wrong if you get wild-caught.

Cook 'em however.

- There you go.

- However you wanna cook 'em.

- Eat 'em raw, it don't matter, shoot.

- Yeah.

- Eat it anyway.

- Anyway.

(Woody chuckling) - All right, show me around.

Show me the ropes for real, 'cause I've never been on a shrimp boat.

- These are the whip lines.

This is what we was talking about earlier.

- [Trace] And so it's attached up there?

- [Jacob] This is just the bags.

We can let 'em down so y'all can look at it.

- See, he's got that chain holding them so they can get 'em off the cat head here.

(metal clinking) - [Jacob] Yeah, see, it's holding all the weight.

- Gotcha.

- Yep.

- Here, you wanna work the winch?

I'll unchain it, Mr.

Woody.

(bright music) - [Trace] Lemme take the look at this.

- [Jacob] Oh yeah, yeah, look.

- [Woody] You gonna do it?

- Yeah, sure.

- We'll at least try for camera.

- Yeah, yeah.

show 'em how to- - I did have a protein bar.

- [Jacob] Show him how to do the winch.

(device clunking) (bright music continues) - [Trace] So like that?

- [Woody] Yeah, don't go too much.

- [Jacob] Here, let it off just a little bit.

- [Trace] Okay.

- All right.

(object crinkling) - Is that- - Well, if you go too much, it'll go on its own.

- Oh, gotcha.

(device clinking) - And then if you just slack it down, don't let it come off, though.

Make sure they ain't under it.

- Uh-oh.

Is this all hinging on me right now?

- You can ease 'er down.

- Just ease it down.

- [Trace] Just ease, like- - [Jacob] Just start, yeah, slacking it down like that.

- Oh-oh!

(device thudding) - Oh.

- No, no.

- Got 'er.

- Got it, okay.

- I'm gonna pass the rope to you.

- Yeah, just do two wraps or one, yeah, there you go.

- So just like that?

- Yeah, just keep going with it.

(Jacob chuckling) - [Trace] I've got real into it there.

- [Woody] Yeah.

- [Jacob] You can let it all the way down, just... - Just ease it down?

- You can just pretty much just let it go, yeah, it's good, it's down.

- All right.

- Take 'er all the way off.

But you wanna look at the hold?

- [Trace] Yeah, let's see inside there.

- [Jacob] That's where we keep the shrimp.

- Whoa.

- This holds probably, I don't know, 900 boxes maybe, maybe 100?

- It's like a whole nother boat under there.

(bright music continues) You know, it smells better than I would think, you know, then it actually is.

- Well, we clean it out.

- And this is all your cooling apparatuses up here, right?

- Yeah, they all hook to a compressor.

It's up there in the engine room, and it runs Freon through 'em, and that's what keeps it cool down here.

- So what did people do before they had these big freezers on boats?

- It is pretty much the same setup.

They didn't have these plates.

They got blow ice, ice into the bins, and they could only go out maybe 10 days or so.

- So tell me, when you come in with all your shrimp, how do you get the shrimp out of here and up there where it needs to go?

- We do the boxes and boxes right there.

We fill those up, we set 'em on this right here, this little platform.

It lays out right here, and we stack the shrimp on it, and it's got ropes that come over the side and you hook it, but like, normally, we also have sack shrimp, too.

We do sack shrimp, and you just lower our hook down, and just hook the sacks and lifts it up.

- [Trace] Cool.

I gotta see this kitchen on the boat.

(bright music continues) This is a good kitchen.

- [Jacob] Yeah, it gets the job done.

- It's a lot more spacious in here than I thought.

- [Jacob] It does what we need, that's for sure.

- If you're on the boat, what's one thing you have to have on the boat?

- I like steaks.

- Land food still translates out there?

- Oh yeah.

- Oh yeah.

- [Trace] So what's on it through here?

Is this where - Yeah, this is the wheelhouse room up here.

- Everything happens?

All right, show me this nerve center here.

- This right here is all our gauges for the main engine.

This right here turns (lever clicking) for the anchor winch.

Got a autopilot right here.

- So even boats have autopilot?

- [Jacob] Oh yeah.

- This thing got a horn?

(boat honking) (chuckles) Well, Captain Woody, thanks so much for the tour.

- [Woody] Enjoyed it.

- Captain Jacob.

- Yes, sir.

- Not a whole lot of shrimp boats in North Alabama, so thanks for showing me the literal ropes on how this all works.

- Oh yeah, anytime.

- Definitely.

- I'm gonna go get some shrimp.

- There you go.

- Take it easy.

(bright music) - Well, that was quite the introduction to life on a shrimp boat.

After saying my goodbyes to Captain Woody and Captain Jacob, we headed over to Zirlott's Seafood to see what happens with the shrimp once it's taken off the boat.

(bright music continues) They showed me how they process it, pack it, and get it ready to sell directly to distributors and consumers.

(bright music continues) They also specialize in a variety of other seafoods like fish, crab, and oysters, just to name a few.

We picked up a few pounds of shrimp to take home and use for a special batch of shrimp and grits that we'll make later.

(bright music continues) And we also picked up some fresh fish to take across the bay and cook with our friends at De Soto's Seafood Kitchen in Gulf Shores.

(bright music continues) What's the best way to get across the bay?

By ferry, of course.

(bright music continues) I've made it off the ferry (waves crashing) and the boots are in the sand.

(upbeat music) I am gonna play around (waves crashing) on the beach a little bit, catch a couple crabs or two, (seagulls calling faintly) and then we're gonna learn how to make the fish we got at the market two different ways that you can recreate at home.

I'm here at De Soto's Seafood Kitchen with Chef Reed, who's graciously gonna cook this delicious flounder for us.

(Reed chuckling) And so I'm thinking we should do a fried and blackened version.

So I'm interested to see, I'm off the hook cooking today, so I'm learning from you.

- Perfect.

- [Trace] So let's unbag this fish.

- Okay.

- See what we got.

- Well, thanks for bringing in your fish.

Yeah, for 25 years now, we've done a hook-and-cook, and that's where if you're able to take a fishing trip down here in Gulf Shores Orange Beach, you can bring us your fish, and you can clean it at home, or we can clean it here for you, and we can cook it grilled, fried, my favorite way is blackened.

- Mine, too.

- Serve it up with two sides for dinner.

- Awesome, I wanna know when we get into the frying and blackened, too, I wanna know what sides go perfectly with this, 'cause I feel like home cooks always say, you know, "This is blackened," but it's actually just burned.

- Oh yeah, definitely.

- So that's why we're here to learn from the experts.

- A lot of people think blackened is a different thing than it actually is.

Some people think very similar to bronzing, the way you'll burn something in a pan and get a really nice crust on it.

Our blackening here at De Soto's isn't like that.

It's just a spice blend that we add to our fish.

- So blackened's actually the seasoning versus the cooking?

- Yeah, exactly, here at De Soto's, but you know, what you do at home is your business.

(Trace laughing) - I like that.

Let's dive right in to this flounder.

- Let's dive in.

So we'll take it and we'll just score it.

- [Trace] How deep are you going with that score?

- [Reed] I would just go about halfway through the filet.

- [Trace] Okay.

- [Reid] And this helps cook it more evenly in the fryer.

- Does it also help it from curling up, also, or?

- [Reed] I find that a lot of fish curls no matter what you try to do to it.

- Right, I always find that, especially with, like, bream and catfish back home.

- Mm-hmm.

- Which flounder's a little different.

- Oh yeah.

- That's beautiful.

- So now that we've scored the fish, you see it all the way through.

- It's almost back to life again, (Reed laughing) Ready to swim off.

- [Reed] It's always good to put a little salt in there.

- Oh yeah.

- No one wants bland fish.

- And pack really down into where you score it.

- Oh yeah.

- So it's also a flavor bomb, too, in there.

- [Reed] Don't be afraid of the salt.

- [Trace] And are you like me?

I always think fish is usually the simpler, the better, too, you know?

- Oh yeah.

You just want a good amount of salt so your fish isn't bland.

We'll rub it in there, and then we'll move on to our fryer.

- Little flounder massage.

- (chuckles) Yeah.

- And we've got some filets in there, too.

- Perfect.

- And I'm thinking we could try some of that blackened seasoning on that, too.

- Blackened?

- [Trace] These are beautiful filets, and I think this is - they are.

- [Trace] A great size for a filet, too.

- Oh yes.

Our super secret spice blend on the blackened.

- Can I get a little whiff of it?

Pour a little bit - Yes.

- In my hand there, I'll just go right in.

I love the texture of this blackened seasoning, too, because you wanna see, like, what's in there.

- Oh yeah, it's got some pepper, it's got salts, it's got herbs.

- You can actually see, like, the dried herb leaves and everything.

Do we go directly on this with the blackened seasoning?

Do we do any kind of anything else or?

- So this already has the salt in it.

- Okay.

- So I really like to just dust your fish with the seasoning.

- I'm gonna sprinkle this one.

Just a little bit of this.

- Oh yeah, you can do that side, I'll do this side.

- And you're really coating it, too, so you want as- - Oh yeah, don't be afraid.

- [Trace] You want as much as you can get on there.

- Uh-huh.

(dishes clanking) - So pan frying at home, if we're blackening, what's the best kind of pan to use?

- So if I was cooking this at home, I would really go for just a heavy-bottom cast iron skillet.

- I love that cast iron.

- Oh yeah, it makes everything taste better.

- A man after my own heart.

- Yeah.

(chuckles) - Choose a heavy-bottom cast iron skillet.

Make sure it's ripping hot with a good amount of oil before you put your fish on.

- How much oil?

So say we're doing these four, how much oil would you put in the pan?

- Just enough to coat the bottom.

- Okay.

- It's not too much.

- And same with frying the fish, would that also be cast iron?

- I would choose maybe a cast iron, like, dutch oven.

- Okay, perfect.

- Maybe like a Le Creuset or something like that.

- And is there a certain oil?

- And a lot more oil.

- A lot more oil (Reed chuckling) than you think, so oil it up.

And is there a certain kind of oil that you like to fry fish in versus another?

- Well, here, we found that frying with canola works best.

- I love me some canola oil, too.

It's the mawmaw in me.

- Nothing wrong with it.

- The mawmaw in me.

- At home, I like to use peanut oil.

I like peanut oil, too.

- But you know, some people can't have peanuts.

- Right, I do like the higher smoke point with that, too, (dishes clattering) and I feel like it makes it super crisp, but... - Oh yeah.

- All right, meet us over at the fryer and let's see the magic happen.

I'm ready to see these swim - Perfect.

- In some grease before they get in my belly.

(Reed laughing) - Okay, let's go.

I need a fryer.

(bright jazzy music) (bright jazzy music continues) - All right, we're over here in the frying station, and you've got a couple things set up for us, and we're about to let that swim around in this pot here, right?

- Exactly, yeah.

- So what all do you have in there?

- So in this bowl, we have buttermilk.

- Okay.

- Buttermilk works really nice with fish, because it can kind of help take away some of that fishy flavor that people don't want.

- [Trace] I did not realize that buttermilk did that.

So I use buttermilk at home when I'm frying, too, just because I think it helps the breading really adhere good.

- [Reed] Oh yeah.

- And I like that little bit of vinegar twang, I guess, that comes through, also.

I don't really know if it does, but.

- Well, that's really what helps, because you can use it with, like, a fishier fish or a gamier meat.

- Right, and we soak all that in it.

- And if you soak it in buttermilk, it kind of helps take away the edge.

- And now, do you add anything else to your buttermilk?

'Cause when I'm doing venison, I'll throw some hot sauce, a little bit of garlic, salt.

So is this just straight buttermilk?

- So here, yeah, at De Soto's, we just use straight buttermilk, - Okay.

- And then we put all of our seasoning in our fry batter.

- Gotcha, okay.

We'll move on to that in a second.

- Excellent.

- Let me see.

- But yeah, we'll just take your buttermilk.

- [Trace] That's a pretty sight right there.

- Oh yeah.

- Just seeing that fish go directly in.

- [Reed] Just make sure - And you're doing- - Everything's nice and coated.

- [Trace] And you're doing some wrist work there.

- Oh yeah, 'cause remember, we scored the meat.

- Right.

- So it's good to make sure that the buttermilk is getting inside of those scores.

- And it really is, it's almost pooling down in those.

- Oh yeah.

And also, we're not gonna do it here today, but the longer you can leave this in at home, the better your fish is gonna taste.

- [Trace] How long?

- I would probably recommend about 30 minutes.

- Okay, so 30 minutes, plan ahead a little bit.

- Yep, exactly.

And then we'll move over to our fish fry.

- And is this a mixture, is this fish fry, Is it a cornmeal-flour mixture?

- Yes, exactly.

So we take white flour and we'll take some corn meal, and then we mix it together with just some, like, basic spices.

We use onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and paprika.

- Pantry staples.

- And I also think- - Oh yeah.

Everyone has it at home.

- You can't be a chef in the South or a cook without onion powder or garlic powder in it.

- Exactly.

- That's just always in there.

- Put it in everything.

- And would you mix this up?

Okay, we're doing this at home, would you do this necessarily on a bowl, in a plate, or something flat?

- [Reed] So with your buttermilk, if you're at home, I'd keep it in a bigger bowl like this.

- Gotcha.

- A lot of people don't have these restaurant tubs that we have here at De Soto's, so I would use either a flat cookie sheet.

- Oh, great idea, a cookie sheet.

- Or even just, like, a big brown paper bag, you can shake and bake.

- Now, that's real mawmaw style there.

- (laughs) Oh yeah.

And so we'll lay this in our fry.

You just cover the top, cover the top.

- We're almost- - And press it down.

- [Trace] We're burying it.

- Yep.

- And massaging it.

And you're not a double-dunker here with fish, either, so you're not gonna go back into the buttermilk- - No.

So with something like chicken, we double-dunk.

- Gotcha.

- But I really like my fish with just a very light breading.

- I do, too.

I feel like if it gets too thick, then it really gets that hard, super hard, that you kind of get in your teeth.

Oh, that's beautiful right there.

- [Reid] And again, remember, we scored- - [Trace] Right.

- [Reid] The inside of the fish, so I just go in and take some of that fry and pack it in the scores.

- [Trace] It's the little, tiny details that take it to the next level, right?

- [Reed] Exactly.

- And at home, you would want your grease waiting on you kind of like we have here, right?

- Yeah.

- And what temperature do you think's best to fry fish on?

- So at home, you could probably get your grease to about 375.

- 375?

- And that'll work just fine.

- And I think every kitchen needs a good grease thermometer, too, to hang on the side of your pan.

- Oh, 100%.

- It saved my life a lot through the years.

- Ah, there's nothing worse than dropping something in the fry and it just does nothing.

- And I also do the trick that's just drop a little bit of the breading in there and if it starts to bubble, you're usually good to go.

- [Reed] Oh yeah, perfect.

- [Trace] We ready to go in the oil?

- [Reed] Yep.

- Look at that.

- So now, we're gonna go in the oil.

So would you like to do the honors?

- I'm gonna let you be the cook today.

I'm on vacation.

(Reid laughing) - You're on vacation, that's just fine with me.

- I also want to see it's done to perfection, so.

- Perfect.

- Well, just remember, whenever you're frying, it's good to lay your fish just gently into the oil.

- [Trace] You don't wanna just plop it in?

- [Reed] And then away from you.

- [Trace] Right.

- [Reed] So the grease we're moving around doesn't splash back.

You don't wanna get burned, is all.

- [Trace] Look at that, how beautiful it is frying in there, too.

- [Reed] Oh yeah.

- And you know, I think a lot of times, home cooks overcook fish, so how long would you keep that in the grease?

- So if you're deep frying, I'd probably do about eight minutes.

- Eight minutes, so super quick.

- Yeah, super quick, but if you're gonna do it in a pan, I'd probably do it about six minutes each side.

- Gotcha.

- Because if you're in a pan, you know, you have to flip it.

- [Trace] And you would cook 'em all same size in the same pan?

- Exactly.

- Gotcha.

So now we just wait?

- [Reed] Now, we wait.

- [Trace] That's the hardest part.

- [Reed] Uh-huh.

- [Trace] Oh look at that.

- [Reid] Oh yeah, it's looking good.

And so you want to leave it in a couple more minutes.

- This is one of those things when you're at home, you don't want to just, like, throw this into grease and forget about it, either, so.

- No.

(fish sizzling) - Okay, so it's been about six or seven minutes, so we're gonna go ahead and take this out of the grease.

- [Trace] Just kind of let it rest a minute, finish cooking?

- [Reed] Oh yeah, you wanna drain some of that grease off.

- And you know that's one thing at home, you don't want to just take something directly out of the frying pan and layer it on a plate, 'cause then it's just gonna be soupy.

- Yeah, when I'm at home, I like to have a plate with a few paper towels on it.

- Yeah.

- Put the fried food on the paper towels, let it, you know, soak up some of that grease.

- And I also feel like it crisps up a little bit more, too.

- Let me find a pair of tongs.

- Let's get some tongs.

- So we can grab this fish.

- Look at that.

From the- - Oh, it's beautiful.

- I mean, my mouth- - I would tell you this is perfect.

- Mouth's watering.

- Look at that.

- Straight from the ocean.

- Oh yeah.

- Now to our plate.

All right, our fried fish is up, and now, we're moving on to blackened.

- Yes, blackened.

- And this is the one I really want to learn a little bit about.

I have the least experience with this.

- [Reed] So like I said, our blackened seasoning, just a little bit of salt and pepper, dried herbs, onion, onion, garlic, paprika, just like we were talking about at the fryer.

- All right, so our cooktop on 375 as well?

Is that kind of the temperature you want, or is this a little different?

- I'd probably put this on about medium-high.

- Okay, gotcha.

- For your home stove.

- Gotcha.

- And you know, not everyone has a Blackstone or flat top at home, so yeah, again, like, one of the heavy-bottom cast iron skillets I was talking about would be fine.

So I just have a bit of drawn butter.

- [Trace] Okay, and you want drawn butter versus just melted butter because?

For the smoke point?

- Smoke point's a little bit higher.

You know, when you're dealing with a hot pan, you know it can get smokey real quick.

- Real quick, all of a sudden.

- I like the flavor, too.

(chuckles) - All of a sudden, you're like, in a forest fire in here.

- [Reed] Exactly, having to open up all your windows.

(Trace chuckling) You'll just put some, like, drawn butter right here.

- [Trace] So slather it real good?

- [Reed] Oh yeah, you want it nice and nonstick.

- [Trace] And you know, to be honest, can you really have too much drawn butter?

Never.

- (scoffs) No, sir.

You'll take your fish.

- And is there a certain side (fish sizzling) that you should start on?

So if your fish has skin, would you want to put that down first, or?

- [Reed] You'd want to lay it skin side down, and then cook the fish the longest time on that side.

- [Trace] Okay, and how long do you think that might be?

- So flounder is a bottom feeder, - Okay.

- And it lays, you know, real flat on the ocean or bay floor, so the filets are really thin.

I probably wouldn't do more than one or two minutes per side.

- Okay.

So like, lay it and turn it?

- Yep, and that's why it's good for this to be really hot as well.

- You never want to be waiting on your pan ever.

- Exactly.

- And so what's your technique for drawn butter for those of us at home?

- So we'll start off with about a pound of butter.

You don't have to do that much at home, and we'll boil it here on our stove until the milk solids start to get really frothy at top, and then you skim 'em off.

- Gotcha.

- And then you'll wait for some of those milk solids to fall to the bottom, and then you can strain it out.

We use just, like, a coffee strainer.

- Y'all a little more fancier than me.

I just use the old T-shirt.

(Reed laughing) - That's bad.

Now, we're just gonna put a little bit more of our drawn butter on the top of the fish.

- [Trace] Yeah, beautiful.

- It helps this side- - You want me to do the other two?

- Yeah, you wanna try?

- I feel like I'm making you do all work now, so.

- Go ahead.

- You said you wanted me to cook.

- And you just made that look so good I had to try it.

(Reed chuckling) Perfect.

- [Reed] Okay.

- So if you're at home, you want to really resist the urge to just start boop-boop-boop.

- Just wait.

Yeah, like I said, you want most of the cooking done on the side with the skin on it, and then we have half of our fish here that doesn't have the skin, so we can go ahead and flip that.

- [Trace] Okay, so we're gonna flip the non-skin first.

- [Reed] Yeah.

- [Trace] And so, random question here.

So you know you always see - What's up?

- [Trace] People cooking fish and they kind of go crazy with the lemon juice while it's in the pan.

(fish sizzling) - Oh man.

- I'm not seeing that happen here, so you wanna wait on that?

- Yeah, we like to finish with lemon, yeah.

- Gotcha, me too.

- That looks so good.

- You know- - You can already see the crust.

- [Reed] And then we'll just do a little bit more butter.

We forgot to season this side when we were over here, but don't worry, we got our blackened seasoning here.

- Right there.

There's no wrong thing.

- We'll just pour it there.

That's right.

- No wrong.

And that'll probably just add a little bit more crust to it, too, so even better.

- Oh yeah.

- [Trace] So what are we looking for here with the skin-on?

- [Reed] So like I said, you want it nice, golden brown, crispy around the edges.

- Oh yeah, that's- - Look.

- [Trace] Looking good.

- [Reed] Oh yeah.

- [Trace] Look, it's starting to look like me after being on the beach all day.

(both chuckling) - So you notice that this half of the fish is just a little bit smaller than the other half of the fish?

- Right, yeah.

- [Reed] So we're gonna go ahead and flip that one first.

- Okay.

- [Reed] We'll take it.

(fish sizzling) - Look at that.

Flick of the wrist.

- And you see on this fish, you got that nice, golden brown right here.

That's a good sign.

- [Trace] That's my favorite part, too.

- Oh yeah.

- And I just think the presentation is just so pretty with the skin, too.

- I'm glad you like it.

And again, we're just gonna go in with a little bit more butter.

- And so when you have 'em uneven like that, just go ahead and turn 'em quickly rather than cut that off and make it even?

- Yeah.

- [Trace] You want me to flip that one?

- [Reed] Yeah, go ahead.

- [Trace] You tell me when.

- [Reed] You can flip it now.

- I wish I had some, like, good trick here, but I don't.

I saw you also, like, gently go under the skin, too, but see, I pulled a little off.

(Reed chuckling) - I was just kind.

- I was a little aggressive.

(Trace chuckling) - It won't make it taste bad.

- See, I should have left it to you.

So if you're making drawn butter for fish, this is something you could probably keep on hand and store in the refrigerator for quite some time, right?

- Yeah.

So you're essentially clarifying the butter.

- Right.

- And so you can even, like, keep it in a mason jar on the counter, it'll keep good for a couple weeks.

- Good to know.

- You know, you're taking out all the stuff in butter that goes bad, so it extends the shelf life.

- All the fats, and you know, a good, old jar just goes so far in the kitchen, too.

- So this one's probably done.

(workers chattering) - [Trace] Are we ready to plate it up?

- [Reed] Yes.

- Beautiful.

- We're first gonna put it on this one before we move it to the final platter.

- [Trace] Okey-doke.

- [Reed] So we'll go ahead, take this one.

- [Trace] And when you do them blackened with the skin on, you want to serve this skin-up, right?

- Oh yeah.

- You wanna be a little more gentle with the spatula than I was.

(Reed laughing) Oh my gosh, my mouth's watering looking at this.

- [Reed] Uh-huh.

- [Trace] And you can tell it's flaky already for where I've speared it.

- [Reed] Oh yeah.

We're just gonna take one of these platters and put some rice on it.

- Making it beautiful.

Alrighty, we're almost done.

(dishes clinking) - Now to the plating process.

- And the plating's my favorite part, 'cause it's almost eatin' time.

- Oh yeah.

So we took our fried flounder and I just laid him on a bed of banana leaves I had lying around.

- I'm totally stealing this, (Reed laughing) because I have banana trees at home, and why didn't I think of that?

- [Reed] And I'll just do a little bit more salt.

- Is that what differentiates it from just table salt, is the coarseness?

- Yeah, it's either good... We used it in the beginning, but it's also good to finish with it as well.

- Yeah, and it's just beautiful, too.

- Oh yeah.

And then keep it really simple with fish.

I like to do just, like, a couple slices of lemon, you know, maybe however many guests you have at your house.

And then we'll just finish with a little bit of chopped parsley.

- [Trace] I love parsley.

- [Reed] Beautiful.

- I put parsley on everything at home.

- Mm-hmm, it's a real nice touch, but yeah, then we'll come to our plate of yellow rice.

- I love the rice at the bottom.

- I don't know if we talked about our yellow rice, but yeah, you can get yellow rice at the grocery store, and ours, we cook it with onions and bell peppers, adds some really nice flavor to it.

We'll take our blackened flounder, and on one side, we'll do the skinless.

- [Trace] And is this little sauce here that's left, would you pour that over or you gonna- - [Reed] I'd probably pour it into the rice.

- [Trace] Pour it into the rice?

- [Reed] Oh yeah, and give it- - [Trace] This is something, you could use a dirty rice, probably Arborio rice, quinoa, anything, right?

- Oh yeah.

Any kind of grain.

Yeah, we'll go ahead.

- Oh yeah.

- Because there is a lot of good flavor in there.

You don't wanna waste it.

- It's getting saucy.

- Uh-huh.

Again, we'll just go in with a few lemon slices.

- And you know, fish, to be so complicated to home cooks, is also just keep it simple at the end of the day.

- Oh yeah.

All you need is maybe just a bit of drawn butter and a bit of lemon juice.

- Or just come on down to DeSoto's and let 'em cook it - for you, right?

(Reed chuckling) Well, thanks for showing me around your kingdom in here.

(Reed laughing) - Thanks for coming by.

- Straight from the Gulf to the kitchen, to the table.

Let's go to the dining room.

- That's right.

Let's go.

(upbeat jazzy music) - We sat down with the family that runs DeSoto's to try that freshly-cooked fish and learn a little more about the culture down here.

There's a loyal following of locals and returning out-of-towners, and we're going to hear about what keeps folks coming back.

I'm here at Desoto's Seafood Kitchen, and I'm sitting here with Rosemary and Mary Mack, family business here.

Thanks for having us.

- Thank you so much for joining us today.

- So how long has Desoto's been a staple of the Gulf?

- It was honestly here when I was a child.

I ate here with my parents growing up, not knowing I would marry a restaurateur one day, and we would own our own restaurant.

- [Trace] Just how it happens, right?

- It is, we bought it 26 years ago this week, actually.

- Congratulations.

- Thank you.

- Anniversary time.

- Yes, it was, it was just a couple of days ago.

- And of course, you're bringing the family in.

- It's been fun.

It's been trying sometimes working with your whole family, and there's a good reason I stay in the front and my husband stays in the back.

(chuckles) - Got your own territory.

So tell me a little bit about the culture of Desoto's, because I noticed, you know, when we first got here today, there's a line out front, you know everyone by name.

Not only do you know them by name, but you also know their drink order already.

(Rosemary chuckling) - Well, we feel very grateful that we have been blessed to have a, a very good local and visitor clientele, snowbirds, summer visitors, and our locals, but I feel like we've worked very hard for it, and they know that we are here, we are a family-run business, and they trust us because they know we are part of our process every day.

- And that really makes a difference.

You can really taste the difference, too.

So tell me a little bit about the importance of local seafood, and having that good-quality seafood in your restaurant, and how it sets it apart from others?

- Well, I think part of it is growing up here, like, I was raised here.

I was raised on our local seafood when there were not very many restaurants in town as like there are now.

And so that's always been something that's been very special to us, and my husband grew up in the restaurant business with his grandfather at a locally family-owned restaurant, and so that's what set the core values of it meaning a lot to us.

- And I really do feel that.

So when I first got here, I just felt like I walked in, walked into my house, felt right at home.

- That's what we're looking for.

- So I gotta ask you, what's your favorite thing on the menu here, and what's one thing you have to have at Desoto's when you come?

- I love our coconut shrimp.

I feel like we've perfected our recipe and we're very well known for it.

We've won a lot of awards for it.

We've had a lot of travel writers come in because they've heard about our coconut shrimp.

We butterfly them here, we make our own batter, we hand dip each one in coconut.

It's not something that comes in off of a truck frozen and pre-made.

It takes a lot of extra work, but we feel like it's really worth it, and the quality, our homemade dipping sauces that we make to go in it.

And I feel like that's one of our really special dishes that sets us apart in some of the other, you know, coconut shrimp around the area.

Being here every day, sometimes I love some of our non seafood items, as well.

We have our hand-cut steaks, and our hand-breaded chicken tenders, and our hand-pattied hamburger steaks, especially at the lunchtime crowd, you know?

So I feel like we have a good variety for people, especially if you come down and you have family that doesn't necessarily care for seafood.

We have something that we can offer everybody.

- I saw on the special today, that barbecue meatloaf, (Rosemary chuckling) and you know, the country boy and me was like, "Meatloaf at the beach?

I love it."

- Uh-huh.

- I love the coconut shrimp, too, because it was literally, the coconut was so fresh, so crispy, and let's talk a little bit about that marmalade, too.

That orange marmalade is so good.

- Oh yeah.

We make it here.

The immersion blender is the key to that recipe.

So we start with a orange marmalade, some horseradish, and some Creole mustard, and maybe one other ingredient, and we definitely make sure to make that super- - Just that one other ingredient, I saw that twinkle (Rosemary chuckling) in your eye.

You're not gonna tell us (Mary laughing) that one.

- Well, we still need you to come here.

We'll get you close, but you still wanna come back and get ours.

- And you also have hook-and-cook, too.

- We do.

- Which, you know, we didn't necessarily hook ours.

I lied a little bit.

(Rosemary and Mary chuckling) We got it at the seafood market over at Zirlott's.

Tell us a little bit about the hook-and-cook.

- So I serve the hook-and-cook, especially around this time of year, spring break and summer, a lot every week.

And so it's if you go out on a charter fish or just even, I mean, I go out with my dad all the time in the summertime, and stuff like that, and you bring it in, and your deck hands do a lot of the hard work for you, cleaning and descaling and all the stuff like that.

And then you bring it into us, you tell me which way you want it, and I'll get it made for you the best way you can have it.

- We'll serve it family style.

- Can't get any better than that.

- Mm-hmm.

- We'll serve it family style if there's a whole family and y'all, you know, we'll cook it all for you.

If you want some blackened, some grilled, some fried, or any of the other specialty ways we have, and we'll serve the fish family style, and everyone gets to choose their own side dishes.

So we don't do just the coleslaw and french fries, you know, everybody can have what they want to accompany their fish for their dinner.

- And I love family style, too, and you gotta have all the options.

Speaking of options, y'all wanna take a bite?

- Of course.

- Yeah.

- [Trace] We've been in there in the kitchen whipping it up.

- I can't wait.

- [Trace] I can't either.

- Thank you.

- Y'all cooked it perfectly.

- Let's see.

- I won't say that I did, 'cause I messed- - The blackened is my favorite.

- Mine, too, and that's also the least experience I have, too, with cooking fish, is blackened.

- Well, hopefully Reed did a good job showing you guys back there today.

- Mm.

So good.

- Delicious.

- We went for the skin-on option, too.

I love that extra bit of flavor.

- This is the whole flounder?

- This is the whole flounder.

- Yeah.

- Should we squeeze a little lemon on it?

- I think so.

- Go big or go home, right?

(Rosemary laughing) I love the scoring, too, because it's beautiful.

- It helps it.

- And all the flavor's right there.

- It helps it cook a little more evenly, as well, too.

- Mm.

Delicious.

- [Rosemary] Mm.

- Perfectly crispy, flaky, everything you want.

Thanks so much for having us today.

I also need to return something to you.

I think it's about time I give this back.

- You're hanging your chef jacket up already?

- Save it for me.

(Rosemary and Mary laughing) Have it waiting on me.

- All right, we'll be- - I'll be back.

- We'll be ready for you guys to be back anytime.

Thank you y'all so much for coming.

- Thanks so much for having us.

(bright whimsical music) That was so delicious, and now, I'm inspired to do something with that fresh shrimp we picked up at Zirlott's.

We're back on the farm and I've got the quintessential Alabama shrimp and grits recipe to show you.

Let's head into the kitchen and get to peeling.

I'm back from the Gulf with my fresh shrimp, ready to make shrimp and grits.

To start, you're gonna need a pound of fresh shrimp with the heads and shells on.

If you're intimidated by a whole shrimp with the head on, you're not alone, but I'm gonna show you the tips and tricks to just remove the head and the shells with ease.

So to remove the head of your shrimp, and I learned this from our shrimper friends in Bayou Le Batre, simply just take your thumb and just boop, pop the head right off.

I'm then gonna take it, and I'm just gonna peel the legs off first, and as I peel them off, I'm kind of loosening the shell up around the shrimp.

And what you can do from there is just basically peel it off almost like a wrapper down to the tail.

And I like an ample tail on mine just because they're shrimp, they should be swimming around in that sauce.

(water splashing) Next comes the vein, and you know that's one of the cardinal sins, I think, if you're cooking shrimp, is not removing the vein, and it doesn't get much easier than just a simple paring knife, and I'm gonna run it right through the back of the shrimp.

Now, I'm barely touching the skin of the shrimp, because what I want to do is I don't want my knife to cut into that little track there.

And once you see it, you can almost just remove it whole by picking it up with your knife and then just dropping it in your bowl.

And then there you have it, a poopless shrimp.

(slide whistle tooting) (metal clanging) We really want to hold on to that shell and the head, because it's gonna be the perfect stock for our grits.

This is a great thing to take advantage of when you have seafood on hand, because it really freezes well, and fresh seafood stock has a much richer flavor than seafood stock that you're gonna buy in the store.

I'm laying my shrimp out on a platter, and then I'm gonna run just cool water over them just to wash away anything that might residually be stuck to the outside.

You don't want to chomp down on a leg.

(spring boinging) So buying your seafood local has a ton of benefits.

The first thing, fresh shrimp is usually always easier to peel than shrimp that has been shipped from another country or frozen for long periods of time.

They're also a lot more tender, but I think the best part is fresh Gulf shrimp has a really good, sweet flavor versus a mineral flavor that I tend to taste when I'm having shrimp that's been frozen and shipped for long periods, and that sweet flavor is what we want in our shrimp and grits.

Plus, you're also supporting a whole community of people from the shrimpers to who makes the nets, who splices the wires, and everything in between.

And done.

So you wanna wash this in the coldest of cold water.

You can even take a bowl with ice water and just take your shrimp and dip it in there, too.

You don't wanna use warm water or hot water because that's gonna prematurely cook our shrimp, and we don't want that to happen.

Well, I'm gonna go wash these shrimp, and I'll meet you at the stove.

(upbeat jazzy music) Let's start with the foundation of our shrimp and grits, The actual grits.

I have brought four cups of seafood stock to a boil, and you want it to be at that full boil where when you stir it, it doesn't stir down, so a rolling boil.

Take your grits, and we're doing four servings today, so this is a cup of grits to four cups of stock.

(whisk scraping) Now, of course, if you don't wanna make seafood stock, or if you don't have any on hand, then you can totally use chicken stock.

I suggest using some kind of stock, because you really want that extra flavor.

So I'm gonna give our grits here a good stir, and I'm also gonna put about a teaspoon of salt directly in there just to give us even more flavor.

I'm gonna bring this up to a boil, just a little bit.

(whisk tapping) I'm gonna put my lid on, reduce the heat, and I'm just gonna let these grits hang out for a good 30 to 35 minutes.

You wanna make sure you keep an eye on your grits, though, and keep them good and stirred and whisked up, because you don't want them sticking at the bottom of the pan.

Now's the time to say that if you have a favorite grit or a grit texture that you really like, you can use yellow, white, any kind of coarse grit you want.

I just would probably steer clear of the blue ones.

Looks a little funny with shrimp and grits.

(metal clanging) And now, we just wait.

(clock ticking) Our grits have been bubbling away, and the texture looks absolutely just what we want.

(whisk tapping) Grits are one of those things that's pretty visual.

So once you decide on what your certain grit preference is, you'll know it.

I'm gonna add in a couple tablespoons of butter and just give that a gentle whisk, and then I'm also gonna add in some heavy cream.

Keep a little extra heavy cream on hand just in case you need to thin your grits slightly.

I'm gonna get all of that cream and butter spread throughout our grits here.

And then I'm gonna add in 3/4 cup of white cheddar cheese.

Of course, if you like Gouda, white cheddar, you can make any cheese variations that you want, and you just can't go wrong with cheese.

Those grits are perfectly spreadable, yet creamy and not solid, so this is the exact grit we want under our shrimp.

I'm gonna move our grits off the stove and let them wait while our shrimp cook, which is isn't that long, so these aren't gonna turn into a solid brick or anything.

(upbeat jazzy music) Let's get started on our shrimp.

I have two tablespoons of butter melting in our skillet, and be sure and use a skillet for this for even cooking for our shrimp.

So this is completely optional, but I would suggest you do this.

Use a tablespoon of bacon drippings and melt it directly (butter sizzling) into that butter.

That's gonna give us that really good pork flavor that we want with our shrimp.

I'm gonna add in just a little bit of sausage that's been finely diced.

(pan sizzling) So the key when you are cooking shrimp and grits is you want all of your components in small, tiny pieces so they're not competing with the shrimp.

Now, there are variations where the sausage goes in the actual sauce of our shrimp and grits with the shrimp, but I'm browning this up, and then I'm gonna add it to our grits, because I just really like that texture in the grits, and I want the shrimps to be the star.

We're just gonna slightly brown our sausage, so we're not cooking this fully, it's already fully smoked.

We just want a little bit of char, and we also want it to release a little bit of that flavor into our butter-bacon grease.

(upbeat jazzy music continues) (sizzling continues) Now that our sausage is all browned up, I'm gonna use a slotted spoon and just transfer this to a bowl.

We wanna leave all of that good liquid in the bottom of our skillet, and if you have a little bit hang out in there, just go ahead and leave 'em.

Now that our sausage flavor has imparted itself into the skillet, let's add a little rendition of the Holy Trinity, just not as much as you're probably used to.

I'm using a red bell pepper today.

(pan sizzling) You can use any color of bell pepper you want, but I really love that pretty color contrast, especially with the white grits.

Onion, and just half a stock of celery.

And again, I've just sliced and chopped all of my vegetables in the same size, which is really small, because, again, we don't want that competing with our shrimp.

And you also don't want to bite into just a huge piece of pepper or onion or celery.

We're gonna cook this over medium-high heat just until everything cooks down and is soft, around eight minutes.

So now that the kitchen's smelling really good, let's add some tomato paste.

So this is a tablespoon of tomato paste, just gonna go directly into our onions, peppers, and celery.

Give that a little stir around.

And then I'm gonna add some chopped garlic, (spoon thudding) like three cloves, but you can always adjust the taste if you're a garlic person.

I'm gonna cook this just until the tomato paste turns dark in the pan and all of this is evenly coated.

(pan sizzling softly) So now's the part you don't want to do prematurely, and that is we are going to sprinkle a tablespoon of all-purpose flour directly over our vegetable mixture here.

That's gonna give us that little bit of silky smooth thickness to our sauce.

I'm just gonna evenly coat all of our vegetables here.

Looking good and pasty, just what we want.

And I'm gonna add in 3/4 cup of shrimp stock, and then 1/4 cup of crushed tomatoes.

I'm gonna bring that up to just a simmer.

Now that this is back up to a simmer, we're gonna add just a dash of hot sauce, like a teaspoon.

If you like stuff hotter, feel free to heat it up.

A little bit of lemon juice for some brightness, and last but not least, just like any Southern cook, a little bit of Worcestershire sauce.

And now, for the stars of our show, our shrimp.

I've taken a little bit of salt, a little bit of pepper, and you just wanna lightly season those, and then we're gonna go directly into the sauce.

Now, most home cooks tend to overcook their shrimp, so that's why we're adding them towards the end.

Shrimp really need just a minute or two to cook.

I'm gonna give them a good toss in our sauce here.

Toss our sauce.

Regular old Emily Dickinson over here with shrimp.

(slide whistle tooting) (metal clanging) And this is the time that you don't wanna leave your stove, because you don't want to overcook those shrimp.

It'll be like eating a eraser, just with some grits thrown in.

(electronic buzzing) I've kind of scattered them around in my pan to where they're kind of in an even layer, and I'm just gonna let 'em hang out in there.

(soft music) (graphic popping softly) (graphic munching softly) So Alabama shrimp and grits is unique in the sense that it has a little bit of a tomato base in the sauce or the Gulf gravy, whatever you want to call it.

It also has sausage and bacon, which if you go on up into the Carolinas, it's more of a thicker gravy sauce, and they completely omit the sausage altogether, and it's only bacon, so I like the best of both worlds.

Also, if you make your shrimp and grits and you think, "Oh, the sauce is too thick," or it's too thin, you can always add a tiny bit more flour.

You can always add a little more tomato.

Add just simple lemon juice to thin your sauce.

That just brightens up the sauce, and it also keeps the sauce at a really good consistency.

(graphic popping) (soft music concludes) (graphic munching) Now that our shrimp are perfectly cooked and swimming around in that Gulf gravy, I'm gonna top it with just a little bit of fresh parsley.

Save a little bit for garnish, too, because you definitely want some, and green onion or chives.

Give that a little bit of a stir, and I'll meet you back at the island to plate up our shrimp and grits.

(graphic popping) (soft music) Our shrimp and grits are finally ready, and my belly couldn't be happier.

It's been growling over the stove this whole time.

So let's plate our grits up.

Like I said earlier, I like to pour just a little bit of the sausage into my grits.

I'm gonna give that a good stir.

If you've made your grits beforehand and you need to thin those, simply add just a little more butter, a little more heavy cream.

You can also optionally top your shrimp and grits with the sausage, too.

Get an ample serving of those grits, and you know it's good when they trail onto the plate.

That's what we want, when it's trying to stick to the spoon.

That means we've got perfect amount of cheese in there.

It is driving me nuts, though.

(spring boinging) Now, let's add our shrimp.

So you definitely don't want to mix your shrimp and grits in the pot.

You don't want this good Gulf Coast gravy to go directly in those grits.

It's just gonna make it way too thick, and you're gonna lose all of that flavor that we want floating right on top.

And then I'm just gonna top it with just a few more herbs and just a little bit of bacon.

And who am I kidding?

Let's put a little bit of sausage on there, too.

You can also optionally plop a bit of butter on top there.

You can make this your very own.

So now that we're all plated up, I have a spoon in hand, let's have a little bite of the Gulf Coast in Brilliant.

Mm, it's just like being right back in the sand.

I cannot wait for y'all to try this, it's so good.

(bright music) Well, I'd call that a successful beach trip.

We made some new friends and have some tasty recipes for our next catch.

The tan lines will fade, but the memories will last forever.

Thanks for joining us today.

We'll see you next time on "Garden Party."

(bright music continues) I am Trace Barnett and welcome to "Garden Party."

Today, I'm in the seafood capital of Alabama, (chuckles) Alabama.

Do y'all need that again?

- [Crew Member] Let's do one more.

- Yeah.

- I don't look at them at all.

- So we just gonna keep talking?

- Yeah, yeah, just like- - Keep looking at you?

- Just like we were doing earlier.

We're gonna talk about, like, pans and stuff?

Once your hands start getting sweaty, it's, like, impossible to get these bad boys on.

We'll get there eventually.

- It could just be us on camera for three minutes trying to wiggle our gloves on.

- My hands pretty much stay encrusted when we're doing "Garden Party."

Grits.

Grit.

(crew member chuckling) You eat grit.

Grits.

I'm here on the Emily Ariel in Bayou La Batre with Captain Woody and Captain Jacob, the true experts down here.

- Ooh.

(Woody and crew laughing) - [Trace] Did I say Bayou right?

- Yeah, you got it.

(Jacob laughing) (everyone chuckling) - They were laughing at me earlier about it.

- Yeah.

- They're a little nervous now.

- How do you really say it?

- Bayou La Batre.

- Yeah, Bayou La Batre.

(crew chuckling) - It's real hard to say in Appalachian.

- Yeah.

- I need to- - That's probably your problem.

- So the big question is what do you do while you're waiting on your fish?

- You drink some pinot grigio.

- So tell us about... (Trace babbling) Sand in my boots, wind in my hair, cooking that shrimp like I don't even care.

There's a little dookie.

I don't think we can say poopless, can we?

(crew laughing) And that one didn't have a poop.

It's its lucky day!

- Did I get the head off enough?

- No.

- No, pop the whole thing off.

Just think about it being somebody else.

(crew member laughing) I'm not gonna tell y'all who I'm envisioning.

(crew member chuckling) And just give that... Where did that come from?

Is that zest, what is it, zest bae?

Salt bae?

(crew chuckling) Meet you over at the FryDaddy.

Wait, is that a brand?

- [Crew Member] Mm-hmm.

- Nevermind, hold on, retract that.

- [Crew Member] The fryer, yeah.

- What's the perfect pairing for fresh Gulf shrimp?

Hold on, I almost said (bleep).

And peels attached?

Is that a good angle for that guy?

See ya, beaches.

This thing got a horn?

(engine rumbling) (horn honking)