The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought immediate and dramatic change to the seafood industry, from the beginning of the supply chain to the end of it.
One of the most difficult obstacles the industry faced in 2020 has come in the form of foodservice closures. Restaurants, casinos, and airlines, among other industries, all had to either shut down entirely or rethink business models in a matter of weeks – whether that meant shifting to delivery or curbside pickup – in an attempt to weather the storm for as long as possible.
For chef, author, and seafood advocate Barton Seaver, the pivot from a restaurant-focus to a home-cook focus had special implications. Seaver recently founded an online program called “Seafood Literacy with Barton Seaver: Knowledge and Technique from Sea to Plate.” The program, powered by leading online culinary school Rouxbe, is focused on teaching restaurant chefs the ins and outs of seafood.
That program, Seaver said, still has relevance in a world with far fewer restaurants.
“It was a surprising pivot for everybody, obviously, the immediate shift from restaurant-focus to home-cook focus,” he said. “Luckily the seafood literacy course in its entirety is a really good value, and aside from just a little bit of language is otherwise 100 percent relevant to a home cook.”
The pandemic, despite its many challenges, also represents an opportunity to promote seafood literacy and consumption of seafood in the home – whether that be through at-home cooking or takeout, Seaver added.
To that end, Seaver has been working on helping people with both. Recently, he partnered with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) to create a video series on how seafood can be showcased on menus, highlighting to-go options as the main way diners can eat at restaurants.
“That work with ASMI was nice, and timely, and to be very honest, seafood is a more challenging protein to work with, because it is less forgiving at times, in many situations,” Seaver said. “In times like this, when people are just struggling to keep menus relevant – and working so hard to reinvent them – the opportunity to just keep seafood top of mind as part of this new scenario I thought was very important.”
That video series includes a number of tips, such as menuing chilled seafood dishes, a technique called “green salting,” and more.
“I was happy to work with ASMI on that as they represent such a great ethic, and such a great quality of product that already has such great menu penetration and built up trust from consumers,” Seaver said.
It isn’t just take-out that Seaver is targeting. He has also been hosting webinars each Thursday showcasing a specific seafood item – covering cooking techniques, sourcing techniques, and more – specifically oriented toward the at-home cook.
“I’m having a lot of fun with these, but also I feel delivering great value,” Seaver said. “People were looking for content, seafood … needs some good friendly content out there to help educate people as they transition to their home diets.”
Each week, the webinar has been getting 900 or more people involved, with the content of each installment archived for future use.
“The way I see it, is it’s a good way to spend my time, it’s a nice way to connect with friends and make new friends, and get healthy seafood onto plates,” Seaver said. “We’re also very fortunate that some folks in the industry have found value in this, and are supporting our efforts there.”
Photo courtesy of Barton Seaver via Twitter
