Much Depends on Dinner: Cooking with Rob Shore

all photos by Bradd Shore

We met Rob Shore in May, 2008, during a trip to Mongolia where he was working as a Peace Corps volunteer. Today Rob lives in Atlanta, Georgia where he is a writer, producer, and photographer.  His essays are forthcoming in Harvard University Press and the Peace Corps at 50 Anniversary Story Project and his photography has appeared in Fifth Wednesday Journal and elsewhere.  Rob is at work on a documentary film series about American family rites of passage, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.  He graduated from Emory University in 2006 with degrees in anthropology and film. See more of his work here.  Rob has this to say about cooking and today's recipe for ceviche:

From 2006-2008 I lived alone in a yurt on the Mongolian steppe.  My desire to cook was more out of nutritional necessity than any inherent interest.  A diet consisting of boiled sheep’s innards, dried milk curd, and the odd potato, carrot, or onion, is enough to drive anyone to culinary experimentation. 

In Mongolia I made peace with meat’s more cute and cuddly exteriors, as opposed to the cling-wrap and Styrofoam of American grocery stores.  I learned to sharpen knives on the underside of bowls and mugs.  The militarily punitive aspects of potato peeling were replaced by a deep affection for the Zen-like rhythms of the chore. 

Today, I cook because it is one of ways in which my mother and I relate as adults. I cook because good, home-cooked food is an incontrovertible excuse to drink good wine. I cook because people don’t expect twenty-something men with unruly hair to have secret ingredients.  I cook because no one else makes it spicy enough.

I like simple recipes that allow for a lot of experimentation and personalization.  I love dishes that are better on the second day, where leftovers can be the main event.  I love fish.

In the summer of 2007 I took up residence next to a river, miles from the village and without a neighbor in sight.  I lived almost solely on what I caught from the river: fat, beautiful rainbow trout.  I learned every conceivable way to prepare them: baked, smoked, sautéed, fried, boiled, stewed, and stuffed in dumplings.  I even took the risk of trying trout sashimi-style.  No cooking method, however, satisfied as much as cleaning a freshly caught fish, sprinkling it with salt and pepper, and laying it over the hot coals of a fire built on the banks of the river. 

Ceviche:  From Mongolia to Peru via the Dekalb Farmers Market in Atlanta, Ga.  Ceviche is a citrus-marinated seafood dish that has been adopted and adapted by many cultures, and allows for a lot of substitution and invention.  You can use pretty much anything that swims, crawls, or mollusks about in the sea.  I like to use tilapia, which has a nice texture, a subtle flavor, is low in mercury, and easy on the wallet.  Adding a couple scallops lends the dish a treasure hunt feel.  

Many people shy away from ceviche because they incorrectly presume that it is a raw dish.  Whether you call it cold cooking, pickling, or denaturing, marinating in citrus not only gives seafood a great flavor, but actually chemically “cooks” it, visibly changing the color and texture of the meat.  Fear not!

Rob Shore's Tilapia and Scallop Ceviche:

Serves 6 as an entree, 8+ as an appetizer

 1 ½ Lbs tilapia: cut into ¾ inch cubes

½ Lb scallops (3 large ones): cut into ¾ inch cubes

Strained juice from 8-10 limes

1 large red onion, finely diced

3 tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped

¼ bunch cilantro, finely chopped

1 medium-sized cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped

2-3 habanero peppers, seeded and minced (sub Serrano peppers for less heat)

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

1/8 cup milk (optional)

Salt and pepper: to taste

Put tilapia cubes, scallops, and diced red onion in a large bowl. Pour lime juice over fish and mix well. You want the fish covered, but not “swimming” in lime juice. The lime juice cooks the fish quite quickly, I’m told as quickly as 10-20 minutes.  You can wait 45 minutes to an hour if it makes you feel better, but I wouldn’t wait much longer than that.  Too much lime juice or marinating for too long can “over cook” the fish and make it rubbery. Refrigerate for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Optional: Remove the marinated tilapia and pour the milk over the contents of the bowl.  Let sit for 2-3 minutes and strain ALL of the liquid. The milk neutralizes the acidity of the lime juice, makes it easier on sensitive stomachs, and prevents the fish from cooking after the liquid has been strained.

Add the other wet and dry ingredients and mix evenly.

Serving:  The ceviche can be served right away, but I like to let it sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour, preferably a couple of hours, to let the flavors combine and settle. 

You can serve ceviche in a martini glass if you are feeling classy, in a halved avocado for a marriage of function and form, or keep it simple and leave the bowl out with toothpicks for communal appetizer grazing. I usually garnish with thinly sliced lemon/lime rounds.  I’m told that the Peruvians like to eat ceviche with popcorn, which might make an interesting garnish.

Thanks, Rob.

-- sdh