Gift Shopping for Pescetarians & Seafood Lovers

Holiday gift shopping can be stressful on its own, but factor in selecting a gift for a pescetarian or seafood-lover and, well, you can multiply that feeling of stress. Pescetarian Journal can help with that. Here are a few suggestions to impress that pescetarian or seafood lover and let him or her know that, yes, you have been paying rapt attention. You know what they need because you are the gift-shopping Ninja, the red-caped, gift-giving super hero. Ok, let's do this:

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1. A Basic Sushi Making Kit
If your pescetarian or seafood lover adores sushi and can't get enough of it, consider giving him or her a kit for creating sushi. There are kits available that include a bamboo sushi mat, rice spoon, rice spreader, and chop sticks. Consider shopping for the sushi kit items separately. That way, you can select looks and wood tones that suit your recipient.

2. A Fish Smoker

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This is the gift that keeps on smoking and delivering delectable smoked fish, oysters, mussels and other seafood, and providing your pescetarian/seafood lover with another cooking method to add variety to their diet. Look for an all-stainless-steel smoker that is dishwasher safe and can be used on the stovetop, in the oven, or on the grill.

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3. Hickory or Cedar Planks and Salmon
If you're planning to "go all out" in the impressing department, get your seafood lover a few cedar planks and a gift card from a favorite fish monger or supermarket for purchasing salmon (or other fish). Fish grilled on a cedar or hickory planks is amazingly flavorful. Besides, this is one gift that you can get at the supermarket fish counter.

4. Seafood-Worthy Herbs and Spices
This gift is appreciated by any semi-serious or serious cook because most herbs and spices have a shelf life of about six months before they begin to lose their potency and flavor. Therefore, spices are usually a welcome gift. Arrange the spices in a basket, tag it, and you're ready for gift giving. Surprise your gift recipient with at least one unexpected herb or spice (such as cake spice) in the seafood gift basket to pique interest in using the spice in a seafood dish (i.e. cake spice on scallops or shrimp).

5. Books and Cookbooks
If your gift recipient is new to the pescetarian diet or to sustainable seafood, consider these books and cookbooks that will up their confidence about acquiring and preparing seafood--and particularly sustainable seafood.

Here are a few books and cookbooks that I have reviewed:

• Good Fish--Sustainable Recipes from the Pacific Coast by Becky Selengut
• A Geography of Oysters by Rowan Jacobsen
• Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food by Paul Greenburg
• The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg

So those are my gift-shopping recommendations. I hope that I've done a bit to relieve some of your stress. Do you have other gift recommendations for pescetarians and seafood lovers? What about a wish list? Leave a comment and share.