Recently, our good friend and fellow author Loren Cordain (The Paleo Diet) and family came to dinner at our house during their annual summer trip to Lake Tahoe. They gifted us with a large, whole trout that their sons had caught on a fishing trip on the lake. We love cooking whole fish on the grill and this one was big enough to feed a whole crowd of friends, which it did.

Nothing could be simpler to cook than whole fish: simply salt and pepper the cavity, dot it with good butter, lay on slices of fresh lemon, and stuff the center with a large handful of fresh herbs and slap it on the grill. The taste is pure and divine, particularly when the fish comes fresh from the clean, crystal blue waters of Lake Tahoe. The only problem is that all the stuff you stuff into the cavity tends to fall out on the grill, unless you wrap the fish in heavy-duty foil (which we often do) and then you’re really steaming, not grilling the fish and the flavor’s different. Still delicious, but different. Sure, you can tie the fish with twine, but it tends to burn off during grilling and you’re still left with your stuffing falling out.

The problem got easily solved for me when in the New York Times last week, I noticed a blurb about a cooking apparatus called Thefoodloop. It’s a reusable, self-locking, wrapping cord that works on the same general principle as the plastic garbage bag locking strips. Unlike those strips, however, Thefoodloop is made of silicone and heat stable to 600 degrees. The link I’ve provided here will direct you to the product website which, unfortunately, doesn’t sell on-line, yet. Instead, it lists an 800 number that will direct you to locations in your area where you can purchase it, Sur le Table, for instance. We think it’s such a clever and useful idea that we’re going to see if we can arrange to offer it through the shopping area of our own site (when it gets up and running soon) and then there will be an on-line source.

But this gadget is no one-trick pony. Beyond grilling fish, I could immediately think of about a bazillion ways to use this little gem and have my new set ready to go. Now all I need is another Lake Tahoe trout…or maybe a fresh Alaskan king salmon.

One Comment

  1. Dear Mary,

    Thank you so much for your enthusiasm for thefoodloop. It is greatly appreciated. From your blog it sounds like you used thefoodloop on the grill. Well, unfortunetely the silicone foodloop is NOT flame proof. In fact, there is NO silicone which is flame proof and food safe to the best of my knowledge. Thefoodloop will not hold up to any open flame or direct contact with a burner. If there is a barrier between the silicone and an open flame it will work great as long as the temp. does not go over 675 degrees F.
    But stay-tuned to thefoodloop.com and soon you will have one for your open grill. I would hate to see a great fish get away due to thefoodloop and an open flame.

    Best regards,
    Anna Stewart

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