The Famous Fish Boil!

Having someone to converse with makes it more difficult to update blogs, but I'll try to recap things best I can.

Our shoots continue to go well and the people in Door County have been very nice, for the most part. The days have have been idyllic, with temperature highs reaching the mid-70's. The peninsula is quite pretty. The western edge is known to be more touristy, with shops and harbors and plenty of resorts. The eastern side is more natural, quiet and spread-out.

There are nice parks which highlight the sand dunes and limestone cliff faces. Eagle Tower is a fire tower which rises about 75 feet and from which you can see the expansive Lake Michigan and harbor towns such as Ephraim, in the distance. It was from Cana Lighthouse that I saw the best view. The day was both sunny and windy, so the light reflected from the blue water that was chopped up in the wind. Another fun thing was doing in on camera with my camera man below, doing a slow zoom to me in the tower, looking down, doing an intro bit. We'll see how that looks on the editing floor. Once again, something you can't do with only one dude.

At the White Gull Inn we took in our first authentic fish boil. Our host was more than pumped for a little on-camera time as he was once a cameraman himself! The early evening was beautiful. I had time to interview him on camera and he couldn't be better for the part. He kept his eye contact on me and not the the cameraman throughout the interview, was thorough and engaging with his answers and kept the same volume of voice through the whole process.

The fish boil originated with the Scandinavian immigrants who cooked the whitefish by boiling them in water and salt. This was the perfect way to feed large groups of people quickly.

His process was simple but clearly required wisdom. The big pot was boiling upon a hardwood-fed flame. At the right time, he placed a net (a big straining pot) into the pot and then dumped in the red potatoes. One special thing to Tom's process is that he takes a hot potato from the boil and places it directly into his hand and tests it. (People afterwards come up to him and ask him "did I just see you place a hot potato in your hand?!") After a bit of time and a 'dash' of salt he dumps the chopped up fish into a net. For closers, he ends the boil up splashing a bunch of kerosene on the flame. This ignites in a big fire ball forcing the fish oils over the side and into the flame, thereby ridding the water of 'fishy-tasting' properties. As an aside to me, he remarked how that process was actually getting rid of all those healthy fish oils society currently clamors for!

That was it: potatoes, fish and salt. He said some throw in onions and carrots, but not him. This way the taste of the fish remains.

Inside we stood in line and were able to scoop up the fish and potatoes and add butter and lemon, if we so desired. We were shown how to debone our fish. I added lemon to my fish and found it possible to have seconds! The lemon was the way to go! For dessert, was a beautiful piece of cherry pie, that special Door County tradition.

I don't quite understand anyone's aversion to a fish boil and have questioned a few locals about it. Some say that they think some tourists aren't used to fish prepared that way or that the fact that they have to dig out the bones makes them uncomfortable. As far as taste, there really isn't a better way to preserve it. No thick greasy batters or fried coatings, just fish and salt. That flame up was pretty dang cool too!

Here's to Boil Master Tom, his fabulous work and accommodation of our coverage!

One of our last ventures was a small sail out into Bailey's Harbor to watch the sun set. We were in a twin masted feather merchant. A small vessel, piloted by a carpenter. It was relaxing and a beautiful way close our visit to Door County.

Well, it sounds like our adventure was mostly about food. To some extent, it was. But Door County is a nice getaway. Whether you like to peek into shops such as the one which sells only British-related items or quality hand-crafted art made by artists of the area, hike near the wave-crashed sea shore, catch a sail out in the harbor, peak from the lighthouses or rest on the beach, Door County has that kind of feel. It's touristy and a bit upscale, but also relaxing.