Tag Archives: massachusetts

Local food, lovely lodging in Salem, MA

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On a recent trip to Salem, MA to visit family, I was fortunate to stumble upon Scratch Kitchen in my quest to escape (what I assumed would be) crappy, uninspired food in the touristy downtown area. Scratch Kitchen

…is a quality driven restaurant with a focus on regional and local farm fresh ingredients. We feature house smoked meats & homemade bacon, breads, condiments and pickles.

We believe in helping our regional and local producers in showcasing their efforts to the best of our abilities in creating dishes that let their hard work stand forward. We also offer a fine selection of craft beers and wine.

The weather was perfect for sitting at one of the small outdoor tables, but the never-ending procession of roaring, souped-up motorcycles on the adjacent road (is this a thing in Salem??) drove us indoors.

Scratch Kitchen dining room

We enjoyed our brunch dishes: a little basket of cornbread that was so good we ate it all before I could take a picture; squash and red pepper quiche; and a big, bacony breakfast sandwich with potatoes. One warning: Scratch Kitchen doesn’t have a full liquor license, so they make their Bloody Marys with sake. Mr. HP, an optimistic sake disliker, nervously tried one sip of his and immediately exchanged it for a mimosa.

Scratch Kitchen brunch

Scratch Kitchen proudly displays the long list of local farmers and vendors they source their ingredients and products from–including eggs, meat, dairy, produce, beer, and wine–and seasonal produce they are featuring. They also make their own bread in-house and it is delicious.

Scratch Kitchen local food list

While in Salem we stayed, via Airbnb, at the House of Four Gables. The guest lodging is a basement apartment with a comfortable bed, a full kitchen and bathroom, and a backyard to die for.

House of Four Gables

Dale was a gracious host, answering all our questions on Salem activities and beaches. The price and value of this rental absolutely cannot be beat. From their Facebook page:

Enjoy amazing views from this charming lower level 2 room apartment in an 1885 Victorian Home. Located in Salem Willows, a mile from downtown Salem, it offers a fully equipped kitchen with granite countertops, stove, refrigerator and microwave, a recently renovated bath and large bedroom with queen sized bed. TV, internet and cable are also included.

If you are looking for lodging in Salem, I highly recommend contacting Dale on Airbnb.

Cheers!

Sustainable lobster farming

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Haute Pasture recently visited the North Shore of Massachusetts. As we strolled through Gloucester, stacks of lobster traps caught our attention and made us wonder: is lobster farming sustainable? Is it humane? And while we’re at it, is boiling a live lobster cruel?

Lobster traps in Gloucester, Mass.

First, the boiling: According to eHow, lobsters have small brains and no central nervous systems, so they don’t have time for their brains to register pain before the water kills them. WiseGeek disagrees, based on the visible distress shown by struggling lobsters as they die in the pot. They suggest freezing a lobster for 15 minutes, so slow its nervous system, chopping it in half to kill it quickly, and then boiling it. Other humane lobster-killing devices are hitting the market, such as the CrustaStun, in the UK, which electrocutes lobsters; and a giant pressure-cooker-type machine used by Shucks Maine Lobster.

Is the farming process humane? The trapping process is easy on the animals: metal boxes sit on the seafloor with bait inside. The lobsters crawl in, have a snack, and are free to crawl out again. Only if they happen to be in the trap when it’s pulled to the surface are they caught. Because lobsters are usually purchased by the customer alive, farmers and middlemen are incented to treat the creatures well once they are harvested. One might think keeping lobsters in tanks at stores and restaurants is cruel, but this article reports that studies at the Marine Biological Laboratory on Cape Cod suggest that the close quarters dull their sense of smell, which relaxes them, and the cold water in the tanks slows their metabolism, reducing their stress.

Is lobster farming sustainable? The answer seems to be yes. Massachusetts has a program called Massachusetts Lobster Fishing The Right Way, which educates the public on the use of sinking groundlines on lobster traps rather than surface lines, which can entangle whales. Massachusetts is the first state to require the use of sinking lines connecting lobster traps along the seafloor, and over 3,000 miles of floating rope has been removed from state waters by lobstermen. Other state regulations include trap vents to allow undersized lobsters to escape, minimum and maximum size requirements, and the required release of egg-bearing females.

Maine regulations are similar to Massachusetts’, with additional protections for breeding females. If a female with eggs is caught, her tail is notched before being returned to the water, marking her for life as an unharvestable breeder. If a female’s eggs are discovered after she is caught, the Lobster Seed Fund buys her from the fisherman to return her to the sea. The Fund is supported by lobster fishing license fees. Maine lobster fisheries are under consideration by the Marine Stewardship Council in London for sustainability certification.

Lobster fisheries are one of the only reliable sources of sustainably-farmed seafood today. If you purchase a Maine or Massachusetts lobster and kill it yourself in a humane way, you are making a responsible, and delicious, seafood choice.