Sea Island Life Magazine Spring/Summer 2013 | Page 11

Ask the Pro

African pompano, fire-roasted and placed on
a bed of creamy polenta, laced with fennel
confit and accompanied by local vegetables

When it comes to cooking a fish such
as the African pompano, Executive Chef
Jonathan Jerusalmy says the technique is
just a small piece to the success of the dish.
“It’s about understanding the season and
working with what’s in season,” he says.
“Ask the people behind the counter what is
fresh.” For example, if it’s December, don’t try
recipes that call for tomatoes. “The beauty of
this is that it is not an exact science,” he says.
“Don’t get stuck in your way. Experiment.”

stretching from the lower half of the Atlantic
down to the Florida Keys.
According to Jacob Gragg, a sommelier at
The Cloister at Sea Island, pairing a wine with
the fish chiefly depends on how it’s prepared.
If it’s grilled or lightly cooked, he recommends
a gruner veltliner from Austria (specifically the
2010 Nikolaihof Federspiel from the country’s
Wachau region). “I like this wine because
of its high acidity and clean style of fruit
characteristics, mostly lemon and grapefruit
with a savory side,” he says. If the fish is fried or
prepared with a rich sauce, he likes to go with a
wine that has a higher level of richness, such as
chardonnays from Sonoma, Calif. (particularly
the 2010 bottling from Hirsch Vineyards).
But Jerusalmy says that no matter how the
fish is prepared—