of the Kitchen 



By Kathy Hart 



n the kitchen at the N.C. 

 State University Seafood Laboratory, 

 Joyce Taylor reigns. 



Her spatula is her scepter and her 

 coat of arms a blue apron that reads: 

 "Eat seafood, be healthy." The long 

 apron reaches below the knees of this 

 petite woman with cropped hair, 

 glasses and a short-spoken but firm 

 voice. 



For 20 years, Taylor has "ruled" 

 the lab's kitchen, testing and develop- 

 ing fish and shellfish recipes for 

 consumers and companies alike. 



She could be heard issuing orders 

 to her loyal band of followers — the 

 Carteret County Nutrition Leaders — 

 as they stirred, whipped, basted or 

 sauteed the ingredients outlined in her 

 latest batch of seafood "test" recipes. 



Most of her suggestions are subtle 

 — less salt, more lemon juice, a little 

 Parmesan cheese. But sometimes she's 

 more commanding, issuing orders 

 with authority and assuredness. 



Whatever the suggestion, the 

 nutrition leaders follow, knowing that 



her years of experience with fish and 

 shellfish have sharpened her instincts. 



In fact, Taylor's seafood knowl- 

 edge earned her the title of "seafood 

 guru" from Taste Full, a North 

 Carolina-based food magazine. Stories 

 about her seafood know-how have 

 also graced the pages of Wildlife in 

 North Carolina, Carolina Style and 

 the University of North Carolina at 

 Greensboro alumni magazine. 



Editors at Southern Living and 

 Reader's Digest checked seafood 

 safety and cooking methods with her. 

 Food writers from across the state 

 called on Taylor for facts and recipes. 

 And every three months, Taylor 

 compiled nuggets of seafood wisdom 

 for her newsletter, Mariner's Menu, 

 which is distributed to more than 

 3,200 hungry subscribers. 



The spunky Carteret County 

 resident even admonished nationally 

 syndicated columnist Calvin Trillin 

 for telling his readers that it was safe 

 to eat raw oysters if they were 

 thoroughly doused in hot sauce. 



Although preliminary laboratory 

 studies showed that hot sauce killed 

 laboratory-cultured bacteria, Taylor 

 told Trillin not to make the leap from 

 test tube to table. 



"Eating raw oysters is risky 

 business, and this research in no way 

 diminishes that risk," she wrote. In a 

 follow-up column. Trillin mentioned 

 that Taylor had called him to task. 



But Taylor is laying down her 

 scepter, casting her coat of arms aside 

 and stepping down from her seafood 

 safety throne. She's shutting the door 

 on the seafood lab test kitchen as she 

 readies for retirement. 



Many people are sad to see her 

 leave. 



"The seafood lab just won't be the 

 same without Joyce," says North 

 Carolina Sea Grant Director B.J. 

 Copeland. "We'll miss her ready base 

 of knowledge, her enthusiasm and her 

 humor. She's undoubtedly been a 

 valuable resource to North Carolina 

 Sea Grant." 



David Green agrees. Continued 



COASTWATCH 1 1 



