2B - Thursday, September 4 2014 The Michigan Daily -- michigandailyat 2B - Thursday, September 4, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily. FOOD COLUMN Catching, killing and cooking a moral meal ARTISTAVANT GARDE I Y ou see them worn a wounded baitfish thrashing everywhere hipsters on the surface, which an oppor- congregate. Plain tunistic and hungry bluefish, black t-shirts that bear the lurking a few feet beneath the iconoclastic slogans of this gas- surface, finds irresistible. tronomic John Hersey, in his book genera- "Blues," described bluefish as tion - our striking the lure "ike a black- versions smith's hammer!" I think he of "Fuck was being a bit generous. When the a bluefish strikes, you definitely Police," or feel its power. The line suddenly "No Blood stiffens, the tip of the rod bends for Oil." into an angle past 90 degrees, I'm talk- GIANCARLO and the surface of the water ing about BUONOMO occasionally foams up as the fish all the wrestles to free itself from the shirts that hooks in its mouth. But there's proclaim "Bacon is a Vegetable," never any fear that the rod, or or "Save a Cow ... Eat a Vegetar- the fisherman, will be pulled ian," or any one of the countless into the water. It becomes very variations that I've seen in visits clear, very quickly, that there is to Williamsburg or Cambridge. a life on the end of the line that In the last 10 years or so, re- you are about to end. discovering and embracing our When the fish is close to the omnivorous nature has become boat, you reach a gloved hand our sexual revolution, and pic- into the water and lift it by the tures of craft bacon have become tail into the boat, where it lays our porn. At least for some of us. on the bottom with its gill flaps I will totally and unequivo- opening and closing. This is cally admit to being one of when things get personal. Fish those proud and occasionally tastes the best when it's gut- obnoxious consumers of animal ted and iced immediately after protein. I even have a t-shirt death, because the blood and that reads " I <3 Lard." But other fluids can oxidize and I've become skeptical of this spoil the flesh. So it's wholly carnivorous posturing. Many necessary to take the bluefish of these t-shirts, bumper stick- by the tail, hang it over the ers, buttons and banners carry side of the boat, and make a with with them a judgement of swift cut across the gills. The sorts, that seems to say, " You crimson blood drips into the wimpy vegetarians don't have emerald water, followed by the the cojones to enjoy the innate yellow and brown of the guts if pleasures of flesh right off the you make a long slit down the bone." But what courage does belly. The fish is ready to be put eating meat require? Could you in a cooler full of ice. slaughter a pig? Could you drive I've done it dozens of times,, a knife into a lpbster? Could I? and every time I have a little, I'm still not one of those moment where I accept respon- people who only eats what they sibility for taking that fish's kill themselves, but I'm getting life. This fish died because of there, one moral meal at a time. me. I went out and put that For the past eight years, I've hook in the water. I reeled him gone fishing with my uncle in. I bled and gutted him. It and cousin in Wellfleet, a small sounds depressing, but there town located on the wrist of the is a peculiar, almost old-fash- cartographical arm that is Cape ioned satisfaction in killing Cod. The waters there are a your own food. It's an intimacy virtual aquarium of edible spe- with your product and your cies: Stripers, Black Bass, Tuna. meal,'a veritable seasoning But the only fish I ever set out guaranteed to make even a sim- to catch, kill and eat is the ever- ple piece of fish taste better. ferocious and tastyPomatomus Whenever I catch a bluefish, saltatrix, better known as the I always cook it for dinner that Bluefish. night. Each fish yields two fat, Catching bluefish isn't very tapering filets of gray-blue hard. They're a fish with an flesh. Even when all I have are appetite like that of a wolf and the filets on my cutting board, a medieval king combined, with I can still picture the particu- no limits on either the type or lar fish that once owned them, amount of food. All one has to the fish that I killed. With this do is go about a half-mile off- knowledge, I'm motivated to shore, attach a lure called a sur- do my absolute best with those face popper to your rod and cast gray-blue filets, to cook and out. When reeled in quickly, the eat them with the passion they lure mimics the movements of deserve. Some people complain that bluefish is too oily and fishy- tasting, but this is a non-issue if cooked correctly. I begin with a charcoal fire, and let the coals burn down to a nice yellow- red glow. Then, I give each filet adifferent flavoring. One gets slices of butter and lemon arranged in an alternating pat- tern on top, and the other gets a thin coating of mustard and mayonnaise. Either way, the point is to keep the fish moist while cutting its natural rich- ness. Being hardy and fatty, bluefish is easy to cook. I just place both filets skin-side down on the grill, put the cover on, and let them bake. After about 10 minutes, I periodi- cally sticka fork in the thickest part of the filet. When the fork goes through the meat without effort, it's done. Could you slaughter a pig? Could you kill a lobster? I used to not like sea crea- tures, but bluefish made me a convert. The flesh, when cooked properly, is so soft and succu- lent that a baby could eat it. And with fish caught that day, there's no fish market smell or taste, just a natural brininess and clean richness. When one is passionate, or even obsessive tbotsut food, mop meals are made ever-so-slightly bittersweet by the knowledge of other meals. When I eata great bagel in Boston, even if it has a light, crisp exterior and chewy, dense interior, the knowledge that some better bagel exists in New York is always in the back of my mind. And when Iteata flawless bowl of ramen in New York, I know that somewhere in Sapporo lies abetter bowl. To catch and eata bluefish in Wellfleet is to enjoy a meal without this doubt. By catching it myself, I know how that fish died, how long it has been out of the water, how it was bled and gutted and filleted and cooked. It's a rare meal, a moral meal, about which I can proudly and confidently proclaim: No one is eating abetter bluefish than me tonight. Buonomo is never going vegan. To convince him otherwise, e-mail gbuonomo@umich.edu. 4 Will Bedell's work deals with the ephemeral and dark side of the human psyche. By AKSHAY SETH ManagingArts Editor The last thing William BeDell says after being interviewed is, "I hope I didn't say 'pussy' too manytimes." He's smirking, shirtless, in front of a mass of piled painted doors - his artwork - asa pho- tographer casually clicks away shots to be used in this profile. An old record player blares punk music in the background. A tiny twin bed is littered with old clothes, scrappy books and drying paint stains. An empty bottle of champagne skulks, rolls on the ground. The room is small, but like everything else inside, it has character. BeDell, an Art & Design senior, hesitated for a while as he answered questions, linger- ing on the words and glancing back at his work for inspiration. When asked what pushed him to develop an interest in art, he shrugged before saying, "I don't know - I just always did it. I drew when I was younger. I kept drawing, and when I fig- ured I wasn't smart enough to get where I want, I drew even harder, painted, and then I :came here." He, spoke morg confideny after the brief pauses that came at the ends of his sentences, making quick references to all the past projects cluttered around the room. "It has been described as angsty," BeDell said while discussing his paint- ing, "but I wouldn't always say that. It's usually whatever's in my brain and whatever, from there, I want to come out, so it becomes kind of a diary of sorts." Pointing to a large door with the word "pussy" embla- zoned across in bright letters, he joked, "I guess this could be kind of angsty but it's more reflective of what I'm thinking and feeling all the time really." He got the idea to paint large, non-traditional pieces on dis- carded doors from his tendency to "go big" - a phrase he throws around alot - in mostaspects of his creativity. Instead of opting for the customary cloth canvas most commonly representative of his medium, BeDell believes splashing his thoughts on large boards of wood can add depth to an otherwise flat creative process. He did one of his earliest door paintings while studying abroad in London, and already intrigued by the ability to scale out his compositions, decided to use the new technique as part of his senior thesis project. "I, was.,rlawing,. painting, went to a lot of good shows - a lot of the pieces I made there were inspired by these really great blues bars I went to," he said. "I painted big, I painted all the time and it was great because I hated it, which let me make some good work." Usingthat experience, BeDell is trying to formulate an idea for his final year project. His dollection of piecea, along with those of every graduating Art & Design student, will be show- cased at the end of the school year in a special gallery. In the meantime, DeBell hopes to find more galleries to display his paintings, collectively dubbed "the door show." "I'm trying to look at how to create a space with painting, and make it more multidimen- sional than just a piece hanging on walls, because I really like the action of swinging the doors open to see the other side," he said. "I really want to invite viewers to geta chance to touch the paintings and interact with them in amore meaningful way than just sitting and staring." BeDell is still in the process of laying out a definitive post- graduation plan but he wants to locate a larger space in Detroit to continue developing his artis- tic style. "I'm hoping I can also hit the road a little bit and get some experience traveling. Just keep myself working hard as ever," he added, before asking, "By the way, do I need to put a shirt on for the pictures?" I E \A 4 4 4