I am getting ready to fix fish tacos tonight and so I visited my favorite fish mongers at
Perdido Seafood. 
I never did know where that term "fish monger" came from but good old Wikipedia provides the answer.
"Fishmongers are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, displaying, merchandising and selling their product. The fishmongers were one of the earliest guilds established in the City of London, being granted a Royal Charter by Edward I. Partnership with foreigners was forbidden and the sale of fish was tightly controlled to ensure freshness and restrain profit."
I don't have any reason, like free food, to recommend Perdido Seafood other than it is the best selection of fresh fish this side of Joe Patti's. 
I know the fish has just come off the boat (except for the Tilapia nd Salmon obviously) and I think the world of such nice local folks like Johnny, Joy and T.C. who are there every day. Johnny and Joy Hatfield own and run the place and typically a few local friends help out in busy times like the summer tourist season but T.C. is usually there the majority of the time. I have mentioned her before in this blog as my "go-to" person when it comes to selecting the freshest of the fresh. Johnny has 5 boats that bring it in daily so I can't ever complain about the freshness. 
Typically you get fish caught that day or the day before unless the boats get stuck inside because of weather, mostly in the winter. T.C. cuts most of the fish, makes the smoked tuna dip, cajun crab dip and recently a great and spicy gumbo. In any case she knows all the scoop on the best season for a certain fish and when it was caught and when she cleaned and cut it. She is a genuine character with a wide variety of tatoos and what I would politely call a "salty" vocabulary. 
T.C. is also a loving Mom of two and it does not take long to see how much she cares for Johnny and Joy. That does not keep her from teasing them both (especially Johnny) and embarassing him hourly with something that should not come out of the mouth of a polite southern belle.
I can't go in the place without thinking of the day I pulled up in front of Johnny's and Joy's home in Grande Lagoon a few days after Hurricane Ivan. I had already been by their fish market under the Theo Barrs Bridge and knew their business had been devastated. It was tough to see the house had been flooded too. They were cleaning out the place just like so many other folks in the subdivsion that lay right down on the shores of Big Lagoon. They had about 6 feet of water in the house during the storm and were salvaging what they could in the days after it receded. I asked Johnny how bad it was down at the shop. He said they had about 11 feet of water, up to the ceiling. 
I didn't have to ask any more. True to his normal ways he said they would be open as soon as they could clean it all out. Joy just smiled that little, tilted head to the side grin that always revealed her positive can do spirit. Just like the time she broke her leg and was back at the fish market weeks before her Dr. ever wanted to hear about it. Hearty stock and sweet as could be.
Well its off to make my tacos with the freshest Amber Jack you can get with 10 miles of our blessed home sweet home.
I plan on a mango/pineapple salsa, jicama and cabbage and some special spices. Some I will roll in soft flour tortillas and some will be in hard shell corn taco shells. I am hungry thinking about it.
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