I suspect that, like me, you have been properly preoccupied with implementing the many varied resolutions you made to yourself on New Year’s Day. My perennial favorite is weight loss. And I do, in fact, have good intentions. But on St. Simons Island, my best plans always seem to be thwarted.
The problem here is the Georgia Shrimp Association. Ever since they started this Wild Georgia Shrimp (WGS) campaign to stamp out what amounts to imitation shrimp raised in ponds “somewhere else,” I have found myself unable to resist the sweet, succulent and delicious shrimp dishes available both at the store and on the plates of local restaurants.
And it’s really not my fault. I am just as happy with a large platter of Wild Georgia Shrimp boiled in “fish boil” with cayenne and hot sauce added for a little kick as I am with “shrimp étouffée.” (Please don’t ask me to explain why that second word has those funny marks above the first and second E but not the third one. I don’t have a clue. In fact, I don’t even know what the word means, but I don’t like the sound of it.)
In any case, the boss whipped up a dish of the stuff I just mentioned and it stole my heart. Then it stole my stomach. I ate enough of this delicious concoction to feed a small army, then, of course, had to take a nap, as it is a well-known fact that consuming Wild Georgia Shrimp causes an uncontrollable desire to nap. During my nap, I dreamed that I was visited by the Ghost of New Year’s Present, in the form of a jumbo Wild Georgia Shrimp.
Dreaming of sweet Georgia shrimp
I asked him, “Why is Georgia shrimp so good?” He replied, “The natural food source for Wild Georgia Shrimp comes from the nutrients supplied by the clean, coastal, Spartina marshes and estuaries that define the Georgia coast. The area's strong tides combined with natural filtration through Georgia's expansive marshland give the shrimp a sweet succulent taste and a good firm texture that can only be produced in the wild.” Then he jumped off the end of the St. Simons pier and swam away.
So my weight loss resolution has once again fallen by the wayside. But I do have a new motto to carry me happily into 2021:
Friends don’t let friends eat pond-raised shrimp.
