Whenever we go on a fishing charter, we make arrangements with local restaurants to have the chefs cook the catch for us. In Roatan, we’ve had fried red snapper with sauteed chayote and local vegetables. In Hawaii, we had fresh caught black fin tuna sliced into sashimi.
In Curaçao, we went on a fishing charter and caught a nice looking Wahoo which weighed about 20 pounds. Prior to booking the charter, we called Hyatt Regency Curaçao’s Santa Barbara Beach & Golf Resort seafood restaurant, Shor Shore, to see if they’d cook our catch (Yes, I was very optimistic we’d catch something). I was informed that the chefs will prepare the fish any style we’d like, and the cost would depend on how much we ordered for dinner.
After a morning out at sea, we brought in Wahoo filets to the chef at Shore to cook for dinner. My only instruction was to let the chef prepare what he wanted. The chef grilled our Wahoo with a jerk seasoning and paired it with a pineapple mango salsa. A perfect dish for the islands. The chef gave us a preview of what was to appear on the menu of Shore in the month of May.
Jerk seasoning is a rub made with allspice, Scotch bonnet peppers, and other ingredients including cloves, cinnamon, scallions, nutmeg, thyme, garlic, and salt. Normally when I have jerk-seasoned foods at Caribbean restaurants, there is quite some kick, which I don’t mind. The way the chef at Shore prepared the seasoning was perfect for the fish – it didn’t overpower it, nor did it have too much spice to enjoy the fish. The pairing of homemade pineapple mango salsa was excellent – a little bit of sweetness to balance the spice. To pair with the fish, we had to get one of our favorite side dishes, white cheddar grits. A side of roasted asparagus or braised greens would also be a great dish to pair with the fish.
If you see this spice option on the menu at Shore, give it a try.
Shore
Santa Barbara Plantation
Porta Blancu, Nieuwpoort
Curacao, Netherlands Antilles
Tel: +011 599 9 840 1234
www.santabarbararesortcuracao.com/restaurants_lounges/shore_restaurant_lounge/
Editor’s Note: When we originally posted this review in 2012, the hotel property was originally run by Hyatt. Now the hotel is under a new management company and name, and then named Shor is now Shore.
