more links about urchins and food

So I guess Wolfgang Puck will be serving fish at his new aquarium restaurant in Atlanta. Whatever, that's fine, he says he'll be adhering to Seafood Watch guidelines. What I want to know more about is the fucking WHALE SHARKS they have in the Georgia Aquarium. That is without a doubt the raddest thing ever and their names are Ralph and Norton and the founder of Home Depot bought them so we should all shop there more and there are WHALE SHARKS!!!

Ralph and Norton, adolescent males imported from Taiwan, are mere pups by comparison, measuring between 15 and 20 feet long. They are, however, growing with every gulp of krill (small shrimp) they consume. Each fish downs about 17 pounds of food twice a day.

"They're almost like puppies," Marcus said.

Ralph and Norton appeared oblivious to the media commotion and celebrity cooks on the other side of the window Tuesday. The grayish fish with large white dots on their backs glided slowly through their tank — the size of a football field — as photographers pointed a dozen cameras their way through the 10-foot-by-28-foot window

Hahahaha, he called them puppies! They're huge sharks, idiot! Oh my god there are whale sharks in Georgia!

This is much less exciting but is possibly interesting for anyone who really likes Uni. Via the Gurgling Cod I came across this story from 2002 about urchin harvesting and production along the California coast. Wolfgang Puck was somehow involved. If anyone hasn't tried Uni (or if you attempted to try it but then had it stolen by FPJ, as often happens) I highly recommend you go to a decent sushi place and order a couple of pieces.

[A]s exotic delicacies go, the sea urchins off the coast of San Diego are considered some of the best-tasting in the world. They're admired for their exceptional sweetness, with contrasting notes of brine and iodine, all in a creamy-textured roe. Digging into a sea urchin is like eating a strange fruit or flower from the sea.

"The sweetest and the best in the world comes from off our coastline," said Tim Johnson, head sushi chef at Zenbu in La Jolla. "A lot of Japanese people say it is the best when they come to visit us."

Trey Foshee, chef at George's at the Cove in La Jolla, learned about San Diego sea urchin from chef Kazunori Nozawa of Sushi Nozawa in Studio City. Speaking through his wife, Nozawa explained why he uses so much local sea urchin.

He's partial to the sea urchin from near Hokaido in his native Japan. But San Diego red urchin is a close second, and definitely the best-tasting species in the United States, he said.

"This is creamy and sweeter than the other," Nozawa said.

Nozawa's wife said Japanese people love the taste of sea urchin but also eat it for its healthful properties. "There are so many tiny eggs inside the shell, and we believe many powers are coming up, like more energy," Yumiko Nozawa said. "When you are tired, it is a freshen-up."

Mmm, magic urchin powers.