The Best-tasting Scallops Aren’t Farmed
Can you guess why?
Here at Duke’s, we are crazy about bringing you the best-tasting food, even if it means scouring the earth to source it.
Don’t believe us? Check out this clip of Duke’s Seafood’s founder, Duke Moscrip, aboard one of the scallop fishing vessels in Alaska.
For almost 15 years, Duke’s Seafood has been sourcing wild scallops from Alaska Weathervane Scallops based in Yakutat, Alaska. The crews haul them from the ocean, shuck them, then clean and sort them onboard before flash-freezing them, a process that takes less than 12 hours.
It’s brutal, dangerous, and time-consuming work.
But the taste?
“Wild scallops from Alaska have a hint of sweetness to them, and they practically melt in your mouth,” says Duke.
The rub? Wild Alaska scallops are more expensive than those harvested from the East Coast or from Asia (90% of which are farmed).
But we did a taste test anyway. Could farmed or East Coast scallops really be so inferior?
You can probably guess that answer. On top of tasting flat and rubbery, farmed scallops contain a higher percentage of contaminants and heavy metals because of how they are fed and raised. Farmed shellfishing operations are also harmful to the seafloor environment.*
East Coast scallops taste pretty good fresh out of the ocean, but like farmed scallops, most are processed and packaged with the use of chemicals and preservatives that don’t just zap the scallop’s flavor, but are linked to negative health impacts like cancer, digestive issues, even hyperactivity in children.**
We’re not risking your health or the health of our oceans to save a few bucks.
At Duke’s, our first priority is you, your health, and making you feel welcome every time you walk in the door. If we manage to wow you with yummy flavors and protect our ecosystems too? That’s just gravy.
We searched high and low to find you the perfect sea scallop.
It’s not hard to believe the one with superior taste comes wild from Alaska. But we weren’t about to take someone else’s word for it, and you shouldn’t either.
Are you ready to give our wild Alaska scallops a try?
*Kendall Reagan Nutrition Center, Colorado State University
** FDA.gov, International Journal of Food Science, European Journal of Cancer