Something's fishy

At the North America Seafood Expo, in Boston! (The company “title” given to me by JJ was Assistant Assistant. Teehee.)

I went with JJ and lasted two hours before walking past a tall woman holding a tray of crunchy dried things in tiny paper cups suitable for pill-giving at hospitals. Well, I made the mistake of breathing while passing, and caught a whiff of something that had never before been smelt by my poor nose. Smelt? At the seafood show? Get it? Haha.

In fact, I do not think it was smelt (that joke is far too easy). I had caught a glimpse on my way past and whatever it was had been chopped up, and was colorful and festive-looking: bits of red, pinkish, orange, black, green maybe? It looked like ground peppercorns of various colors to someone just beginning to learn about international fish tastes. We were in one of the numerous Asian aisles at the time.

I’ll tell you what it was NOT (to my eye – and I have watched a lot of the original Iron Chef! Heh.) It was not dried sardines, shrimp, anchovy, cod/bacalao, salmon, and it was also not bonito flakes. Maybe it was a mix of fish with spices or other things? It was not garlicky though, nor did it smell distinctly of pepper, ginger, chilies, kimchi, or soy. Or even seaweed. Whatever it was, I was overcome. I guess it was enough time at the trade show because JJ took one look at my face and asked if I was ok. I told him I wasn’t going to be able to smell fish for much longer that day, and he made the (smart!) executive decision to lead me toward the exit.

But I keep wondering about it. What a mystery! Maybe I will ask JJ to find out what it was. I must know!