Alyssa Takes 5th!
Blog written by Alyssa Bellamy
2019 Catch & Cook Competitor and friend of Fin + Forage.
The 2019 Catch and Cook Contest was a fantastic event that I in no way regret being involved in, but I was not so eager to sign up when it was first announced. I’ve always loved being in the ocean and I’d been snorkeling/free diving on family vacations loads of times, and by this point I had been a scuba diver for almost 5 years. I had only started taking free diving more seriously for about a year, and on top of that I’d been spearfishing only a handful of times. The one person that pushed me to enter the contest was also the same person who got me to pursue free diving and spearfishing in the first place. My very supportive boyfriend, Daniel (in the epic shark hat), is big on spearfishing as well as rod and reel fishing, so when I told him early on in our relationship that I love to cook I instantly had a never-ending supply of fresh fish to use.
Once Daniel finally got me to sign-up for the contest, I had to start thinking of what to cook and where to dive to get it. Because I was still so new to spearfishing, let alone filleting my own fish, I decided to keep my recipe simple and hoped I would do well based on my flavors. I planned to do an elevated version of blackened fish tacos with a seasoning mixture, avocado crema and grapefruit salsa all prepared the night before the contest. I’m far from being a morning person, but the excitement surrounding the contest woke me up bright and early to check-in at 6am with Daniel as my dive buddy. When we got to the beach I kept looking through the crowd to see if there were any other girls competing as well. I only saw a couple other lady spearos but that just motivated me to do better and try to match the skill of these big guys around me.
After signing in and getting our safety briefing we were off to pick a dive site, which would have been easier if there wasn’t also a 5k race blocking off many of the roads adjacent to many dive sites. We eventually got a parking spot decently close to our chosen dive spot, geared up and got in. I had kept the plan fairly simple for my recipe so all I needed were some good looking rockfish. I got a couple smaller blue rockfish early on in our dive, but I wanted something that I could show-off a little bit. Finally on one of my last dives, I got a blue rockfish more than twice the size of my other two! We kicked back in, packed up, and headed back to prepare for the cook-off.
When we got to the tables there were only a few other divers starting their meals so I knew I had a good amount of time to put together my meal. Everyone competing was rooting for one another and the atmosphere surrounding us was one of pure positivity. If someone needed paper towels, another two or three competitors would offer up some of their own. The people there made it feel more like a community than a competition. After I finished putting together my dish, I lined up with some of the other cooks waiting to present to the judges. Instead of being nervous, we were all just admiring one another’s work and picking each other’s brains for future recipe ideas. As soon as I finished presenting to the judges, it was time to enter the buffet that the tables had become. Everyone was sharing the leftovers from their amazing dishes and stories from diving earlier that day.
Finally, it was time to hear the judges’ top five choices of the dishes presented. Everyone they called up for places first through fourth had incredible dishes and clearly deserved their prizes. Then they called me for fifth place. I couldn’t believe it! I was happy with the judges and other cooks simply enjoying my dish, but to place fifth out of 38 competitors was an amazing finish to the day. Since then I’ve been inspired by my fellow cooks and spearos to keep practicing my diving skills and my cooking skills. The biggest thing I’ve tried to do with my cooking since the contest is use every possible part of the fish. I’ve experimented with fish roe, skin, heads, collars, and bones for many different recipes as well as other invertebrates found in Monterey Bay. I feel that it’s one thing to spear a big fish, its another to honor your catch by using all it has to offer. Spearfishing makes you truly appreciate the fish you’re consuming because you choose that fish specifically, out of any others that you may see. This experience brings us closer to our food and gives us a unique appreciation for what we put on our plates