It's always interesting to know how someone comes to make their living doing what they love. Ricky Moore's journey to his Saltbox Seafood brand sets an excellent example of using local resources to succeed. Not only do we get the story of how he has succeeded, we get many, many delicious recipes to learn and share. My friends and family have already been using Ricky's outstanding recipes to spice up our meal routines. So far, none of the recipes have been complicated, all have been delicious. Pick any one of these and get started on your way to seafood heaven.

Great personal story and very in-depth information on selecting ad preparing seafood. I enjoyed this book I may not make as many of the recipes as I had hoped because many are not my personal taste. But I can appreciate the dedication and passion for seafood in the book. I received it from NetGalley for an honest review.

Saltbox Seafood Joint Cookbook is written by Ricky Moore and contains the history of and great recipes from his Saltbox Seafood Joint restaurants in North Carolina.

Ricky Moore grew up in eastern North Carolina, joining the military out of high school and going straight into military cook school. His story of growing up in kitchens as a young cook and sharing his experiences about some of his travels was inspiring - touring kitchens as a young person of color when there weren't many African American chefs to look up to back then, but how similar the roots were of many different cuisines.

"After some time and additional stages in European restaurants, I realized that the rustic roots of these culinary mainstays weren't that different from the food of my childhood. I began to see that southern food is not a lesser cuisine, and I shed many of the insecurities I had held about my own food culture."

The author knows food - military cook, CIA graduate, working abroad learning different food cultures - and while a restaurant seems like the next progression for any chef, Moore's idea for a seafood place came from his wife's search for a good fried fish sandwich. He did research, and found that particular menu item was lacking in his neighborhood. Rather than go big, he "wanted a little shop, to do one thing really well, and to control every aspect of it." That idea has spawned two successful locations in Durham, NC, and you'll find a simple menu with fresh fish and seafood at both. He even has a catering truck to feed special event customers.

The Saltbox Seafood Joint Cookbook shares recipes from his successful restaurants so you can season and cook up fresh fish just right. He's included a section detailing different fish varieties and goes over the basic fish cuts, and lists what fish to look for in what season ensuring you find fresh fish all year (at least on the east coast NC areas).

Recipes are sectioned by type: Standard Operating Procedure (stocks, seasonings, sauces); Fried and Joy (pan and deep frying); Into The Coals (grilling, smoking, charcoaling); One-Pots (soups, chowders, stews); Perfect Hominy (grits and seafood); and The Spread (all the hot and cold side dishes). His Menus chapter places his recipes with other dishes so you can create a perfect meal at home. Throughout the book, there's tidbits and stories of recipes or food culture that are interesting to read.

All in all, Saltbox Seafood Joint Cookbook is a superb read, not just for the classic recipes it contains inside, but the history of the man behind the Saltbox Seafood Joint restaurants.

Ricky Moore has an amazing story, and because everyone seems to want to duplicate the incredible dishes served at his restaurants, he has published them in a fun cookbook, Saltbox Seafood Joint Cookbook. According to the introduction, “Moore’s religion is seafood,” and he proves it in his success. In the first pages of the cookbook, there are black and white pictures of Moore and things connected to his story. Next are illustrations of the fish he loves most from the shores of North Carolina, as well as information on seasonality and use.

The recipes are featured next, many of which are mouthwatering. However, it is a crime in this modern day not to include pictures of the recipes, and there are none. That is an unfortunate negative. Another negative to this cookbook is the fact that many of the fish dishes call for fish that is only available in Moore’s area, and those of us who don’t live there need information on what substitutions are available for the fish that is unobtainable. For instance, dogfish isn’t available in my area, and he doesn’t offer an alternative.

On the upside, there are fabulous side dishes to serve with seafood, such as Saltbox Bread and Butter Vegetable Slaw, Sweet Potato Grits, and Skillet Fried Broccoli (divine). Moore uses lots of southern ingredients, and you can almost hear the southern accent while reading the recipes. The Skillet succotash is amazing, and so are the Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Garlic and Lemon.

Main dishes worth making include Saltbox’s Famous Shrimp Roll (along with great sauces), Grilled Dogfish with Red Jalapeño Rub, and Monkfish Chowder with Sea Beans and Dill.

Those who live in the area will enjoy this cookbook, and those who don’t live in the area will have to do a lot of research to find substitutions for some of the varieties of seafood. No one will be able to guess what the dishes are going to look like because of the absence of photographs, so this book is only recommended for those who have been lucky enough to enjoy the dishes at his restaurants and have taken pictures with their phones (or have taken the plunge and prepared dishes sight unseen).

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I enjoyed this cookbook, and I enjoyed learning more about Ricky's history. I wish there had been photos, but I will not take away from that. I highly recommend this book! Seafood can be tricky business to cook!

The book started with a quick biography of the author, which I found very interesting. I really admired the way he educated himself with regards to cooking, and the research he put into finding a venue for his own eatery. I would advise anyone contemplating starting up a restaurant to read this book. So many restaurants go bust because the owners have not put in the effort that Ricky Moore has done to find out about the local environment, its needs and its capacity for supporting the planned restaurant, before they open up.
I also admired his philosophy on food and cooking, and his business sense. He had travelled a lot, and picked up culinary tips (and recipes) from wherever he went. His openness to new cuisines and to traditional ones from around the world, and not wanting just to stick to the current trends of food in top restaurants, has meant that his current sit-down restaurant – and this book – are full of interesting and tasty recipes, that you may not find in many places.
Just as it is difficult to find traditional English food in London (except fish and chips), it is apparently difficult to find traditional North Carolina food in that state. Ricky Moore set to change that deficiency. North Carolina is home to a wide range of seafood, but many local fishes are (snobbishly) not considered worthy of including in restaurant dishes – being known as ‘ugly’ or ‘trashy’ fish – because they do not appear on high class menus. The author tries to use them all, in simple straightforward recipes that rely on the freshness of the ingredients.
As I live in London (far from N Carolina), I had to substitute for most of the fish. The book has a handy list of the fish mentioned in the book, with line drawings of each, so I was able to pick a reasonable alternative in most cases.
The first recipe we tried was simply stupendous – “Singapore-Style Fish Collar Curry”. The sauce was outstanding with the fish, but we also want to try it with meats – perhaps pork or chicken. The “Ritz Cracker-Crusted Bluefish Cakes” were deliciously crunchy made with fresh tuna. Easiest of all – but no less tasty – were the oven baked fish dishes: “Whole Roasted Fish on the Bone with Salsa Verde” and “Broiled Panko-and Herb Crusted Triggerfish” (we used monkfish). We had sufficient of the lovely salsa verde left over to use on roasted cauliflower to have with the second recipe.
Apart from the wonderful fish recipes, there are also some very interesting ideas for side dishes and accompaniments such as the “Cauliflower Grits”, the “Skillet Succotash”, “Oven-Stewed Tomatoes” (great way to use up stale bread) and “Cucumber, Onion and Herb Salad”.
As with the ‘ugly’ fish, the author looks at different ways to deal with out-of-fashion food, that was formerly only seen as the food of poverty. I am a great fan of peasant cooking from around the world, and loved his take on traditional North Carolina food. For me, the really interesting discovery was Grits. I’d heard about them, but never tried them. They are also impossible to find in North London. Luckily, we have friends from South Carolina living nearby, who happened to have some they’d brought over from the US, to give us. The husband warned us, that people from the Carolinas eat grits because they are poor – and not because grits taste good – but his wife was much more complementary, and encouraged us to try cheese grits ( she supplied a recipe too) with the shrimp from the book (“Broiled Green-Tail Shrimp with Bay Leaf Butter”) – which was an excellent meal. We have enough grits left over to try out the “Fried Cheddar Grits Cakes” and the “Fish and Grits Sticks”. So, we are now keen on grits.
This is an excellent cookbook, with simple – yet delicious – recipes that can be adapted for many different types of fish. The only possible negative is, that there are no pictures of the finished meals. However, I can easily cope without the illustrations when the recipes are so good.
I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys eating and cooking fish, and/or is thinking about setting up a restaurant.

Great cookbook, love the history about Ricky and enjoyed the recipes. I want more recipes so may be another book. I will say I prefer photos in cookbooks so because of this I won’t give five stars. I do like the fish drawings.

I really liked this cookbook. It celebrated the author's coastal culinary heritage. In the book there's also explanations on how to pan-fry, deep-fry, grill and smoke, in addition to recipes for soups, stews, grits and the obvious seafood. I would love to try several of the recipes in this book, such as the Hickory Charcoal Mullet with BBQ Butter.