Last weekend, our friend Diane Friese came over for dinner, and I decided to fool around with a chicken (or sole) meuniere recipe and apply it to baked haddock. Instead of flouring and frying the fish, I put the haddock in a pan, sprinkled salt and pepper on it, and baked it in the oven at 350°F for about twenty minutes, until the fish was flaky. (Baking time, of course, depends on the thickness of the fish.) When the fish was done, I “finished” it with lemon juice, browned butter—surely a gift from the gods—and parsley. The results were ridiculously good—far better, in fact, than they had any right to be with such a simple dish. Somehow, the browned butter, the lemon, and the parsley all came together to emphasize the essential fish flavor of the haddock. And maybe it was my overactive imagination, but along with the taste of haddock, there were undertones of a lobster taste. I kid you not. The only tricky part of this dish is that it cools off very fast. A warmed platter helps, but I would recommend having guests seated at the table before the fish is done. Then, finish the haddock, and serve it immediately. 

Diane is a good cook and an environmentalist, so before the baked haddock, when we were having wine and appetizers in the living room, the talk naturally gravitated toward food and the environment. Diane loves to travel, but she ruefully acknowledged that it wasn’t the most environmentally friendly thing to do. Flying is the worst, but driving long distances in cars isn’t much better. As someone who thinks “home is best,” travel isn’t an issue for me, but even so I understand the pull of the road. Humans seem to have an innate curiosity about what’s over the next hill, and given that planes and cars didn’t cause so much environmental havoc, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with this. My husband, Clif, refers to this urge to travel as the nomadic side of our human nature. We like to see different vistas, and as my Franco-American mother used to say, “Travel changes the mind.” (I wish I could remember how she said it in French.) 

Unfortunately, because of global warming and climate change, traveling for fun should be done sparingly, if at all. If everyone stayed closer to home and biked and walked as much as possible, it would make a real difference. As a homebody, this is easy for me to advise, but I do so knowing there is a huge chink in my own environmental armor. I might not go very far, but the olive oil, bananas, lemons, oranges, and spices that I eat are quite the world travelers with a carbon footprint as large as Paul Bunyan’s.  Now, I’m a big fan of local food, and I make it a point to buy locally whenever I can. The local food that we eat includes eggs, milk, apples, butter, potatoes, ice cream, and even tomatoes, grown year round at Backyard Farms, not far from where we live.  

But as a foodie, I hate to think of life without citrus. (Unless global warming hits us faster than I expect, orange and lemon groves won’t be coming to Maine during my lifetime. Peaches might get here sooner, but right now the climate still isn’t good for them. ) Olive oil would be out if I ate only food grown locally. Ditto for cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Whatever would I do without tea? Real tea, not the herbal varieties. Then there is chocolate. A world without chocolate? What a horrible thought. Alas, my nonlocal food list is fairly long, and I don’t have to leave home to contribute to global warming. My food does it for me. 

So here is my wish for those who love to travel and for those who love to eat food from afar. I hope we develop a system of transportation—trains and boats and even cars—that is powered by energy that doesn’t cause global warming. We’re getting closer, but we are not there yet. Too many companies are invested in the status quo and have done all that they can to squelch alternative energy. 

But my dream is that, in the end, alternative energy will out. Then, Diane can travel with a clear conscience, and untroubled, I can eat oranges and chocolate whenever I want. 

Baked Haddock with lemon, browned butter, and parsley 

1 to 1 1/2 pounds of fresh haddock fillets
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons of butter, melted over medium heat until it is nut-brown. (Oh, what a lovely smell!)
1 to 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons of minced parsley 

Place haddock in an oiled or buttered pan and bake in a 350°F oven for twenty minutes or until the fish is flaky. (Do not overbake or the fish will be dry.) About five minutes before the fish is done, brown the butter. When the fish is done, immediately transfer to heated platter. Sprinkle with lemon juice, brush with browned butter, and then add parsley. Eat as soon as possible. While the fish tastes fine after it’s cooled, it’s much better warm.