DATE: Sunday, July 20, 1997                 TAG: 9707220370

SECTION: FLAVOR                  PAGE: F1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ANN WRIGHT, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:  211 lines

SEAFOOD HATTERAS STYLEFISH HAS ALWAYS BEEN PLENTIFUL IN THE WATERS AROUND HATTERAS. EVEN WHEN TIMES WERE HARD, THE OCEAN PROVIDED FOOD FOR THE VILLAGERS.

LEMON GRASS and lime oil haven't made it into the culinary lexicon of Hatteras, N.C. Here, cooking fish remains cast-iron traditional - simple, hearty and amazingly delicious. Fancy food magazines touting marinades and salsas haven't made headway among folks who believe the flavor of fresh seafood needs little embellishment.

Fish has always been plentiful in the waters around the little village of Hatteras, located at the southwestern tip of Hatteras Island. Highway 12 is interrupted by the Hatteras Inlet, and an automobile headed further south has to be loaded on the Ocracoke ferry. Even when times were hard and money was scarce, the Pamlico Sound and the Atlantic Ocean provided food and a livelihood for the villagers.

``I said I'd never be a fisherman, but I guess it was in my blood,'' remembers Lee Peele, the son and grandson of commercial fishermen. His four sons have followed the family tradition.

``I came out of the Army in 1946 and started fishing with my dad. We sold our fish for six or seven cents a pound to buyers from New York who shipped it north from Elizabeth City by train,'' Peele says. ``I guess I missed fishing and I loved my mother's hot biscuits too much to stay away.''

Hatteras natives' fish preferences have changed a bit in Peele's 81 years.

``The old-timers wouldn't eat anything caught in the ocean. That was because the charter boats that took sportsmen into the Gulf Stream didn't have ice available and the fish was often bad by the time they got back in. They were suspicious of anything that didn't come out of the pound nets in the sound,'' says Peele. ``People threw dolphin away (the game fish, not Flipper) because they thought they were poison. As a matter of fact, I didn't try one myself until eight or 10 years ago. Now I think ocean fish are better.

``Another thing people wouldn't touch were shrimp. They picked them out of the pound nets and dumped them overboard. They just didn't know any different,'' Peele remembers. He actually tried shrimping after he came home from the war, but couldn't find a market for the local brown shrimp, now considered one of the glories of a coastal Carolina summer.

In the old days, the women would walk to the docks in the afternoon when the boats came in to get what they were cooking for dinner. Salt pork was the preferred seasoning and its rendered fat, known locally as ``meat grease,'' was put on the table for diners to ladle over their fish.

Potatoes were either cooked with the fish or served on the side. Summer gardens meant fresh vegetables and plenty left over to can.

``Let me make sure you've got the right cookbook,'' says Spurgeon Stowe. ``You want the old one, not the newer version.''

Stowe is owner and captain of Miss Hatteras, a gleaming 72-foot charter boat offering inshore and offshore fishing trips, birdwatching tours and moonlight cruises. ``Yes, that's it, real Hatteras-style cooking and none of those new pasta recipes,'' he says, handing back the slender red booklet with obvious satisfaction.

``From Hatteras Kitchens'' sold for $1 in 1960 when it was compiled by the Ladies Auxiliary of the Hatteras Volunteer Fire Department. And to devotees of local cooking, it's the last word in good eating.

Danny Oden, Spurgeon Stowe's friend long before he became his stepbrother, and a like-minded admirer of the old ways, operates Oden's Dock and the Breakwater Restaurant overlooking his marina. He and Spurgeon consider themselves experts on Hatteras cuisine.

``Hatteras-style clam chowder. That's made with no milk and no tomatoes, but plenty of fat meat and onions and potatoes.''

``And don't forget boiled bluefish that you fillet and salt and keep in the refrigerator overnight. Rinse it off, boil it 'til it turns white, and serve it with biscuits and fig preserves.''

``Remember mashed rutabagas seasoned with vinegar?''

``How about Miss Ursie's molasses cookies?''

``Or Miss Margaret's bread pudding with meringue?''

Oden, like Stowe, has learned the lore of the old-timers and has a perspective based in history and common sense.

``Fishing is cyclical. We went 15 years without seeing a croaker and now they're so common they don't bring very good prices. I was a teen-ager before I saw a bluefish over five pounds. People used to catch rockfish from the beach in the winter by setting a haul net with a dory (a wooden skiff), but there wasn't any rock when I was young.

``Sturgeon was another fish they caught from the beach, but now they're almost extinct. Most fish were caught in pound nets in the '30s, '40s, and '50s, but that pretty much died out in the '60s. In fact, the sound fishing, including oysters, is dying pretty quickly now.''

Few fishermen still have pound nets in the sound. The pound net is a corral, 25 to 30 feet in diameter. The net is tied with ropes to stakes set in five to 20 feet of water. A long, wide-meshed lead net set across the current allows little fish to swim through the holes while guiding larger ones into the enclosure. Each day, two or three men in a boat check the net and remove their prisoners. The harvest is selective, allowing fishermen to return protected species and others they can't use.

Dinner, served at noon, is still the main meal of the day at Margaret Peele's snug little house within sight of the sound.

``Miss Margaret,'' now 83 years old, was a contributor to the original Hatteras cookbook and she still cooks for her family every day. It's her way of keeping in touch with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and getting them together. Anywhere from two to 10 show up daily and a crowd of 15 to 20 on Sundays. ``I never know how many are coming, but I always seem to have plenty for them to eat,'' she says.

Fresh fish fried crispy in a cast-iron skillet is always a hit at Miss Margaret's. She seasons the fish fillets with salt and pepper and rolls them in flour before dropping them, flesh-side down, into the sizzling pan. ``If you start cooking fish skin-side down, it will curl up,'' she advises.

Fried cornbread, cole slaw and baked beans are naturals with fried fish. Sliced tomatoes and cucumbers in vinegar are a summer addition.

Drumfish, Hatteras-style, is another Peele family favorite. When drumfish, also known as channel bass, isn't available, Miss Margaret substitutes rockfish or bluefish. Preparation begins with two large pots of salted boiling water, one for the fish and the other for potatoes. Fish and potatoes are mashed together on the plate, according to each diner's predilection, and sauced with meat grease containing cracklings and chopped onion.

``For another meal, I use the leftovers for fish cakes, mixing the drum and potatoes with a minced onion and a raw egg. Then I pat it into cakes and fry them in the leftover meat grease,'' Miss Margaret explains. ``Or I fix picked-up fish, a hash made with onions, potatoes, and cooked fish. We never waste anything.

``Before we had electricity, my father, who was in the Coast Guard, salted spot in a wooden keg, alternating layers of fish and salt. We also corned mackerel. We were tickled to death to catch a sea turtle in the pound nets. Then we fixed turtle hash.

``Except for clams and oysters, most of what we ate came out of the pound nets in the sound. My favorite seafood now is shrimp, but I don't ever remember eating it as a girl.''

Wherever the Coast Guard moved her family, Hatteras was always home to Edith Stowe Oden. Visits to her grandparents were the highlight of her childhood until her parents moved back to the village during World War II. ``Nobody was ever class-conscious here, and that's been a big part of what has always made it such a nice place to live,'' she remembers. ``On Hatteras, money and social position don't count for much. Everybody socializes.''

Edith's mother-in-law, ``Miss Ursie'' Stowe, taught her to cook. ``My husband, Clam, would bring home fish I didn't know how to cook, and I'd run to Miss Ursie,'' Edith remembers.

Miss Ursie was a legendary cook and ``the nicest person you'd ever meet.'' In the Hatteras tradition, she cooked a huge midday dinner for her family daily. Supper was leftovers from lunch, covered with a tablecloth to keep the flies off.

Her grandson, Spurgeon, learned early on that the first ones to show up got the most choices. One of his favorites was stewed shrimp, which his mother still makes the same way today.

Technology has brought many changes to Hatteras in the past half-century. Fishing boats have sophisticated navigation aids and cellular phones. Cable television and computers bring pop culture and information about the world off the island into every home. But such progress hasn't weakened the traditional Hatteras emphasis on close community and family ties. Those are still celebrated the way they always were - gathered around the table. MEMO: Ann Wright is a free-lance writer in Virginia Beach. ILLUSTRATION: STAFF COLOR FILE PHOTO

Abundant local fish like this cobia...

WILLIAM P. CANNON color photos/The Virginian-Pilot

Danny Oden likes Hatteras-style clam chowder...

Spurgeon Stowe, charter boat owner...

...Lee Peele...

Photos

WILLIAM P. CANNON

``Miss Margaret'' Peele of Hatteras cooks a midday meal each day in

an effort to keep her family close.

Steve Bailey, owner of Risky Business Seafood, scales a flounder

that he and his mates have caught. The fish will be sold at his

retail store.

Brad Lilley, 15, removes fresh crabs from an ice bin at Risky

Business Seafood and prepares them for steaming.

Map

Graphic

VISITING HATTERAS

Weekend visitors can get a taste of down-home at the

Saturday-night fish fry, a fund-raiser that runs throughout the

summer. From 5 to 7 p.m. at the Hatteras firehouse, you'll see more

locals than tourists eating up fried Spanish mackerel or bluefish,

hush puppies, cole slaw, and potato salad. The cost is $6.50 for

adults and $3.50 for children. For more information, call Donna

Peele of the Hatteras Civic Association at the Atlantic View Motel

(919) 986-2323.

A revised ``Hatteras Kitchens'' cookbook, the one with pasta

recipes, is on sale at the fish fry for $5.50. The second version is

coming out soon and will sell for about $10.

No one should visit Hatteras without a cooler. Risky Business

Seafood at Oden's Dock, operated by Steve and Beth Bailey, is the

last word in fresh and wonderful. Stop here for steamed shrimp or

crabs and smoked fish. The operation is strictly retail; they've

even started a catalog for winter customers. Among other delights,

they ship fresh-frozen shrimp across the country. Their number is

(800) 691-5569.

Another must-do is the Hatteras Village Aqua Farm where you rake

your own clams. It's located on Route 12 on the soundside, less than

a mile north of Hatteras Village. If you're short of time and can't

do it yourself, visit the retail shop. The farm is open daily

through Oct. 1 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Call (800) 986-2249 for more

information.

For a current issue of ``The Insider's Guide to North Carolina's

Outer Banks'' call (800) 765-2665, ext. 238. The book sells for

$17.95 and contains a wealth of useful information.

The Dare County Chamber of Commerce (919) 441-8144 offers a

listing of Hatteras Village motels.

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