GATHER JOURNAL

Photograph by Gentl and Hyers Food Styling by Maggie Ruggiero Prop Styling by Theo Vamvounakis
    
JAWS (1975)

Seafood “Chum” Cocktail

Starters from Issue 3 – Spring / Summer 2013 – Rough Cut

The most terrifying movie about the beach, and the worst pr campaign for great white sharks ever conceived, Jaws’s titular (and very hungry) underwater beast may have been mechanical, but he was no less menacing. Characters in the movie fled the water, and so too would the legions of kids who saw it on the big screen and were promptly traumatized. Our seafood cocktail, a spiced Clamato-based bath swimming with monkfish chunks, pays homage to his bloodthirsty ways and the means by which they tried to catch him—by chumming the waters.

serves 4



  • 1 (7 to 8-oz) piece monkfish fillet
  • 4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • ¼ tsp paprika
  • 1 cup chilled Clamato (or a mixture of ⅓ cup clam and ⅔ cup tomato juice)
  • ¼ cup finely chopped white onion
  • ⅓ cup fresh lime juice
  • ¼ cup ketchup
  • 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp Tabasco sauce or more to taste
  • ½ lb crabmeat, picked through

  • 1

    Preheat oven to 425°F. Place monkfish on a foil-lined baking pan. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp oil and sprinkle with paprika, salt, and pepper.
  • 2

    Roast, without turning, until just cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Cut into bite-sized chunks.
  • 3

    Stir together remaining 3 Tbsp oil, Clamato, onion, lime juice, ketchup, cilantro, garlic, and Tabasco. Gently stir in fish and crabmeat. Serve well chilled.