Green, an NCSU food scientist 

 who heads the Morehead City seafood 

 lab, says Taylor's work with the 

 public, county extension agents, 

 industry and health inspectors has 

 earned her and the lab continued 

 respect. 



"Those who know Joyce know 

 she's dedicated," Green says. "She 

 believes in developing first-rate 

 recipes and distributing accurate 

 information about quality and safety 

 to as many people as will listen or 

 read." 



Taylor's "tell-it-like-it-is" style 

 and dry sense of humor made her a 

 star when she hit the road to deliver 

 consumer safety, quality and prepara- 

 tion information at extension work- 

 shops across the state. She worked 

 tirelessly to make seafood a more 

 comfortable home-cooking choice for 

 consumers. 



"The reason people don't cook 

 seafood is they don't know how or 

 they feel uncomfortable cooking it," 

 Taylor says. "And I still get a lot of 

 questions about quality and freshness. 

 Consumers want to know how to tell 

 when a fish is fresh." 



Of course, her answer was always 

 the same: The nose knows. Fresh 

 seafood should smell of the ocean. 



"A fish that smells fishy is not 

 fresh," she says. "And no amount of 

 herbs, sauces and batters is going to 

 make a bad fish taste good." 



To take care of those questions, 

 Taylor has produced a legacy of 

 brochures about choosing and buying 

 fresh fish and shellfish. She's even 

 developed a brochure for recreational 

 anglers designed to educate them 

 about bringing home a quality catch 

 that is safe to eat. 



In her workshops and newslet- 

 ters, Taylor also strives to introduce 

 consumers to the variety of seafood 

 species available and to the myriad 

 methods for cooking the catch. 



"People are branching out to buy 

 different species," Taylor says. 

 "Flounder and shrimp aren't the 

 'only' species. I get questions about 

 bluefish, mackerel, tuna, mahi-mahi, 

 salmon and tilapia." 



For most consumers, the first 

 taste of a different species comes at a 

 restaurant. Then they see it in the 

 seafood counter at their local fish 

 market or grocery store. They buy the 

 fish or shellfish, hoping to imitate 

 their restaurant fare. But for many 

 cooks, frying is the only way to cook 

 the fisherman's catch. 



"I understand why people love 



fried seafood," Taylor says. "I love it 

 too. But more people are considering 

 other cooking methods. They 

 understand that frying is not healthy. 

 They've become very interested in 

 grilling and broiling." 



Taylor has always encouraged 

 consumers to experiment with other 

 cooking options: baking, broiling, 

 grilling, poaching and steaming. 

 She's taught readers of Mariner's 

 Menu how to cook sumptuous 

 seafood meals in parchment paper 

 and how to stretch their dollars by 

 flaking fish for casseroles and salads. 



"And I think people are surprised 

 at the ease of preparation that seafood 

 offers," she says. "It usually takes far 

 less preparation time to bake a 

 salmon fillet or grill a mackerel steak 

 than it does to cook other meats." 



To help folks restrict their salt 

 intake and lessen problems with 

 hypertension, Taylor developed a no- 

 salt seafood cookbook. She provided 

 consumers with 56 recipes that didn't 

 include salt as an ingredient. Instead, 

 Taylor relied on other flavor enhanc- 

 ers: fruit juices, herbs, spices and 

 wine. 



The recipes were tested and 

 tasted. Those that passed the taste test 

 — receiving a score of 4.5 or higher 



s Taylor retires, she 

 leaves behind a legion of seafood 

 education brochures and booklets. 

 They provide information every 

 seafood cook should have. 



• Hooked on Fresh Fish and 

 Shellfish describes methods for 

 determining the freshness of seafood. 

 In also includes information on 

 market forms and serving amounts. 

 UNC-SG-85-08. Free brochure. 



Taylor's Publications 



• Bringing the Catch Home describes 

 how to handle, prepare, transport and 

 store fresh fish to protect its quality. 

 UNC-SG-86-26. Free brochure. 



•Dressing Finfish illustrates methods 

 for cleaning the catch. 

 UNC-SG-86-10. Free brochure. 



• Cracking into Crustaceans 

 provides illustrated instructions for 

 cleaning shrimp, hard crabs and soft 

 crabs. UNC-SG-88-01 . Free. 



• Breaking into Bivalves 

 illustrates methods for shucking 

 oysters, clams and scallops. 

 UNC-SG-88-02. Free. 



• No-Salt Seafood: All the 

 Flavor Without the Salt features 

 more than 50 mouth-watering 

 ways to cook fish and shellfish 

 seasoned with herbs and spices. 

 UNC-SG-89-07. 36 pages. 

 $3.50. □ 



12 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1996 



