Seafood Boil Feast: I Ate a Tray Meant for a Crowd—and Regretted Nothing

Us Bachelors Appreciate Gifted Chefs

As a bachelor, eating out and ordering great food became somewhat of a specialty of mine. Whenever I felt like upgrading from the usual Burger King or KFC, I had a whole collection of local culinary hotspots ready to rescue me from having to cook.

The world would be a sad place without gifted chefs, and luckily, the seafood boil displayed in this tantalizing post was beautifully prepared and generously packaged by a wonderful lady who lived just a few houses from my old block.

I always loved how she packed my tray as though I were feeding five people. But wait—I actually ate it all myself. Only God knows where I put all that food! It just goes to show that when the food is good enough, the impossible becomes possible.

My Love for Seafood Started at the River

There is something unforgettable about having the flavours of the sea sprawled out before you, practically begging you to dig in. Looking back, I realize my love for seafood started long before I discovered seafood boils.

During summer days in the blissful paradise of the Jamaican countryside, my cousins and I would catch fish and shrimp from the river. There is a special kind of pride that comes from catching your own food—although cooking and eating what you caught was probably the more rewarding part.

There were also a few close calls involving my fingers. I would bravely reach beneath huge rocks searching for shrimp to add to my bag, completely ignoring the possibility that dinner might decide to fight back. I was searching for dinner, and dinner was attempting to rob me of my fingers.

Those were the days, I tell you.

Naturally, I grew up loving those tenacious little critters from the water. When I eventually discovered seafood boils, I fell in love all over again—the spices, the sauce and the joy of digging through shells in search of those little treasures of ivory meat.

Seafood Will Always Reign Supreme

I am not sure whether seafood tastes so good because it has been baptized in the purity of the water, or because it has spent years being naturally salted in preparation for somebody’s dinner plate.

Whatever the secret behind its irresistible temptation, I am simply grateful that seafood exists.

As someone with fond memories of catching what he ate, seafood will always carry a little nostalgia for me. So I will continue doing my part to support the fishermen of the world by respectfully appreciating the catch of their hands—one generously loaded plate at a time.