The joys of traveling in Europe in the summer: beware!

[DFW]

49. Clams, scallops, cod, almost anything caught in the Atlantic

They have small fresh fish shops in most towns, and the fishing boats come in every day, leave off their catch, and it's the freshest there is. My wife is also a gourmet chef, so not only do we have the best ingredients, we (I, really) also have the best chef to prepare it.

Though I am supposed to avoid fried anything, the fried clam strips and the fried scallops are SO good there that I make an exception while on Cape Cod. A jumbo portion of fried scallops with cocktail sauce--if it kills me, what a way to go!

By the way, for our European friends, "cocktail sauce" in the USA is NOT the same as §cocktail sauce" in Europe. What is served as "cocktail sauce" in Europe is called "Russian dressing" in the USA, and tastes horrible with seafood. American cocktail sauce is made with tomatoes, horseradish and lemon. Most brands use High Fructose Corn Syrup, which is a red alert, no go for people (like me) with cancer in the family, but a few brands don't use it--notably the Legal Seafood house brand, which is sold in some stores. For that matter, Smuckers, a mass-produced marmalade and jelly brand, also uses (or used to ) HFCS. Stay away from anything containing that stuff unless you are pretty sure you will never get cancer. Unfortunately, mass-marketed brands like Crosse&Blackwell, as well as Bookbinders, DO use it, so check the ingredients!!