Sturgeon

It lives at the bottom of the river. It's ancient and ugly - often described as a dinosaur with fins. And although it once made the region the caviar capital of the world, the Atlantic sturgeon is being declared an endangered species, a decision that could affect the Delaware River deepening project. No one is saying the sturgeon will become the snail darter of the Delaware. Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service, which is making final the endangered listing, and the Army Corps of Engineers say the fish does not have the power to scuttle the project.

WASHINGTON HILLARY RETURNS; DAD'S STILL ILL Hillary Rodham Clinton returned to Washington yesterday, ending a 16-day stay at the bedside of her critically ill father in Little Rock, Ark. Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, 13, flew aboard a small government plane and were back in the White House by early evening. Hugh Rodham, who turned 82 last week, suffered a stroke on March 19 and has been listed in critical condition at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center in Little Rock.

Wolfgang Puck, the innovative chef-operator of Hollywood's stylish Spago restaurant, shares his imaginative approach to the culinary arts in Wolfgang Puck's Modern French Cooking (Houghton Mifflin, $12.95). The youthful Puck is widely considered to be on the leading edge of a culinary revolution that began in France in the 1960s and that has reached new heights of creativity in sunny Southern California. His approach marries classic French cooking with a contemporary kitchen philosophy that simmers with liberation.

The recipes in Susan Herrmann Loomis' From Sea to Shining Sea ($12.95 paperback, $19.95 hard-cover) were not created in the comforts of her kitchen. Loomis researched her material by traveling to the source. She spent early mornings on Chesapeake Bay. She went shrimp-harvesting in Georgia. And she hauled in salmon while sailing the seas off Alaska. "I've become an incorrigible seafood junkie," she writes. "I go to fishing ports on vacation and visit markets instead of museums. I talk with fishermen whenever I can. " Her book reflects the ardor of her research, and - along with recipes - it includes a significant summary of the subject, from general nutritional merits to tips on freezing.

One of the great frustrating truths about caviar, the world's most precious sea product, is that it is best eaten in large quantities. Few delicacies can equal the sensual pleasure of eating fresh sturgeon eggs, scooped from glistening dark mounds nestled in basins in crushed ice, then heaped onto a buttered buckwheat blini pancake, rolled inside tubes of fine crepes with thick Russian smetana - sour cream - or bubbling over a fluffy smoked salmon...

HAUNTREPRENEURS TRY TO MAKE HAY ON HALLOWEEN There's no sign out front saying "Billions and Billions Scared," but thousands and thousands of people visiting Haunted Hayrides around the nation have had their spines tingled by a concept first served up by McDonald's. That's because accountant Ronald Brooks - who shares his first name with a certain clown - has taken generic elements of Halloween fun and slapped a franchise fee on them. At 32 Haunted Hayrides around the nation, $8.50 will get you on the trademarked Haunted Hayride, let you shiver through the trademarked Haunted Forest and allow you to stop for a soft brew at the similarly protected Witches' Cauldron.

It is a perplexing thing to imagine that a town as rich and smart and cultured as Princeton could be starving for a decent meal. But even a short-term memory will prove it once was true. Merely five years ago, before the recent dining boomlet that brought ambitious restaurants such as Harriette's, I came to work at this primly coiffed Ivy town as a reporter, and the culinary options were grim. Of course, there were always PJ's Pancake House and the august Lahiere's, which recently feted its 80th anniversary as a fancy fixture on Witherspoon Street.

From the waters surrounding this long-forgotten village came thousands of tons of sturgeon and the eggs for caviar. So much sturgeon that the bustling community came to be known as Caviar. That was back around the turn of the century when a steam train provided twice-daily service from Philadelphia. Today, the only evidence of this rich history in Cumberland County is a rusted piece of train track that juts out of the mud of the quiet salt marsh at low tide. Overfishing and pollution of the Delaware Bay ruined it for the sturgeon, and a fierce fire in the 1930s burned everything that was left of the town that nearly 800 people had called home.

Dining at Jake's on two recent occasions was like watching a great dancer at top form. Part of the enjoyment came from knowing how much talent and effort went into making the meals and service at the Manayunk restaurant seem so effortless. But the real kick came from the sensory pleasures each of the staff's performances provided. Jake's food, produced by owner-chef Bruce Cooper and chef de cuisine Marjorie Kloss, looked, smelled and tasted terrific. Food presentation on big white plates was artful but not overdone and was as carefully controlled as a ballet leap.

All roes are not created equal. The wide variety in prices for sturgeon caviar, for example, ranging from $13 to $70 or more an ounce, is the first indicator. But what are the differences in quality and taste? Are less expensive caviars found in the ethnic markets of Northeast Philadelphia the great bargain they appear to be, or simply lower grade? A blind tasting of 12 roes conducted by The Inquirer, including the most expensive Russian sturgeon down to humble dyed lumpfish roe available at most supermarkets, partially confirms the axiom that there are very few real bargains in caviar, if quality is an issue.

It lives at the bottom of the river. It's ancient and ugly - often described as a dinosaur with fins. And although it once made the region the caviar capital of the world, the Atlantic sturgeon is being declared an endangered species, a decision that could affect the Delaware River deepening project. No one is saying the sturgeon will become the snail darter of the Delaware. Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service, which is making final the endangered listing, and the Army Corps of Engineers say the fish does not have the power to scuttle the project.

Biologist Matt Fisher was hauling in a research net in the Delaware River near Wilmington recently when he spotted a tiny fish that all but made his heart stop. It was a young Atlantic sturgeon, most likely hatched last spring. Just seven inches long and weighing less than an ounce, it was nevertheless a momentous discovery - long-awaited proof that the species was spawning in the Delaware. "This is a very significant finding," said Lisa Calvo, a Rutgers marine biologist who also heads the nonprofit Seaboard Fisheries Institute, formed to study the sturgeon.

It's a scintillating autumn morning and Mickey Melchiondo is in his usual haunt: drifting down the Pennsylvania bank of the Delaware River near New Hope, casting plastic wacky worms into the current to entice smallmouth bass. What makes Melchiondo different from other anglers is that he's just as comfortable with a guitar in his hand as a rod. Off the water he's better known by his stage name, Dean Ween, half of Bucks County's enduring avant-goof band, Ween. For more than 20 years, Dean and Gene Ween (born Aaron Freeman)

It is a perplexing thing to imagine that a town as rich and smart and cultured as Princeton could be starving for a decent meal. But even a short-term memory will prove it once was true. Merely five years ago, before the recent dining boomlet that brought ambitious restaurants such as Harriette's, I came to work at this primly coiffed Ivy town as a reporter, and the culinary options were grim. Of course, there were always PJ's Pancake House and the august Lahiere's, which recently feted its 80th anniversary as a fancy fixture on Witherspoon Street.

All roes are not created equal. The wide variety in prices for sturgeon caviar, for example, ranging from $13 to $70 or more an ounce, is the first indicator. But what are the differences in quality and taste? Are less expensive caviars found in the ethnic markets of Northeast Philadelphia the great bargain they appear to be, or simply lower grade? A blind tasting of 12 roes conducted by The Inquirer, including the most expensive Russian sturgeon down to humble dyed lumpfish roe available at most supermarkets, partially confirms the axiom that there are very few real bargains in caviar, if quality is an issue.

One of the great frustrating truths about caviar, the world's most precious sea product, is that it is best eaten in large quantities. Few delicacies can equal the sensual pleasure of eating fresh sturgeon eggs, scooped from glistening dark mounds nestled in basins in crushed ice, then heaped onto a buttered buckwheat blini pancake, rolled inside tubes of fine crepes with thick Russian smetana - sour cream - or bubbling over a fluffy smoked salmon...

In the 1880s, there was a gold rush of sorts along the Delaware River. Hundreds - perhaps thousands - of fishermen flocked to camps along the waterway, taking to the river each day in the hope of landing a fish so prized that a single good catch could bring a year's worth of income. Their prey was the Atlantic sturgeon, a remnant of the age of the dinosaur that can grow to 14 feet and is so ugly that some refer to it as the Franken- fish. Its eggs valued as caviar, the sturgeon was the backbone of the region's fishing industry.

Dining at Jake's on two recent occasions was like watching a great dancer at top form. Part of the enjoyment came from knowing how much talent and effort went into making the meals and service at the Manayunk restaurant seem so effortless. But the real kick came from the sensory pleasures each of the staff's performances provided. Jake's food, produced by owner-chef Bruce Cooper and chef de cuisine Marjorie Kloss, looked, smelled and tasted terrific. Food presentation on big white plates was artful but not overdone and was as carefully controlled as a ballet leap.

From the waters surrounding this long-forgotten village came thousands of tons of sturgeon and the eggs for caviar. So much sturgeon that the bustling community came to be known as Caviar. That was back around the turn of the century when a steam train provided twice-daily service from Philadelphia. Today, the only evidence of this rich history in Cumberland County is a rusted piece of train track that juts out of the mud of the quiet salt marsh at low tide. Overfishing and pollution of the Delaware Bay ruined it for the sturgeon, and a fierce fire in the 1930s burned everything that was left of the town that nearly 800 people had called home.

WASHINGTON HILLARY RETURNS; DAD'S STILL ILL Hillary Rodham Clinton returned to Washington yesterday, ending a 16-day stay at the bedside of her critically ill father in Little Rock, Ark. Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, 13, flew aboard a small government plane and were back in the White House by early evening. Hugh Rodham, who turned 82 last week, suffered a stroke on March 19 and has been listed in critical condition at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center in Little Rock.