Old Fisherman’s Wharf Celebrates 180 Years with an “Ode to Calamari Contest”

Congratulations to the THREE winners and all of the wonderful entries!!! A Big Thank You!!!

Old Fisherman’s Wharf’s 180^th Anniversary

Ode to Calamari Contest Submissions

January 2025

* Note: Fisherman’s Wharf Association is delighted by the interest in the Ode to Calamari Contest and grateful for the quantity of submissions. Initials are used for the entrants who did not provide permission to publish their entire name with their entry as requested.

 

 

 

#1

 

Sandra Yagyu    1st Place Winner

 

The organ grinder’s monkey of years ago beckons and waves

A chorus of sea lions bark “Bon Appetit!”

I resist chowder hawkers and hold out for what I crave

Those tender rings and tentacles I always overeat

 

#2

-              Kate Bauer: Second Place Winner!

 

"Alfresco Dining on the Wharf"

- Clam chowder bread bowls have nothing on me!

- Dredged in flour and fried I'm a savory local delicacy.

- Sitting on the wharf you enjoy my tender tentacles and crispy rings

- While your unsuspecting French fries fly off via a seagull's wings!

 

#3

 

-              Anna Simmons  3rd Place Winner

I love you served white, red but not blue,

Sweet and tender and hot like you,

You are my beginning, my middle, my everything,

And yes I will marry you with a calamari ring.

 

#4

 

 -        Mike Haugh

 

You may look a bit alien and strange;

Nevertheless, please don’t ever change.

I love you battered, fried and curled;

For your taste is out of this world!

 

 #5

 

-              Niki Mitchell

 

Oh, squid! Long and sleek in the ocean

Come in my boat for a ride

You make such a good  potion

Crispy and crunchy and fried!

 

#6

 

-              Woody Salkin

 

SQUID, I DID 

 

Who has supped on the calamari

Betty and Bob and they are not sorry.

And who ate the big cephalopod,

I think it was most likely Kim and Claude

Who dined on the bright invertebrate

It had to have been Nelly and Nate.

And who finished that plate of fried squid,

I have to admit it, fully, I did. 

 

#7

 

Chad Lincoln

 

I was reclined on my pod and decided on a cephla...I mean selfa....

Took the pic, printed it, 

and then drew a squidly, I mean squiggly, below...

....then I decided to call a Mary I knew.

 

#8

 

Rob Weisskirch

 

When freshly caught,

I'm never sorry.

Breaded, fried, and hot.

Oh, the calamari!

 

From the counter, he did say:"

Tentacles, rings, or steak?""

All three, if I may!"

The best choice, I did make.

 

 One gets hungry, by the sea

Choices abound like a food safari

Something special for me

Definitely, fried calamari!

 

Fresh from the sea--that squid

Lemon butter sauce atop.

Breaded and fried, I did

Now, back to the seafood shop!

 

#9

-              S.

 

When I come home to Monterey

from being far away

I crave my local squid

Calamari from the Monterey Bay

 

#10

 

-              J 

 

Calamari, mon amour,

you arrow through the dark sea

Til drawn to the luminous jig you be

Then alas, netted you are - and fried

For my paradisiacal dining rapture - though I am sorry you died.

 

#11

-              GS

Oh silly creatures

seeking light from squid boats

come to my table

with sweet buttery notes!

 

#12

 

-              Maria Nunez

Calamari, my guy's best friend

 His praise for you just has no end

Wish I could share that light in his eyes

But I'm sticking to my favorite fries !    (sorry)

 

#13

-          R.M.S.T.

Cali-Me-Mare 

 

When I was just a lad

Playing on my Atari

I first fell in love with

A dish called Calimari

"Eat a tentacled creature?!"

I at first put up a fuss S

till haunted by nightmares

When giants fought the Nautilus

But after my first bite

Never again did I complain

I'd battle for one more bite

Even join the Squid Games

So, like this cephalopod

I'll put this statement in ink

From Fisherman's Wharf To Pebble Beach's Links

 

#14

-              Ann Bauer:

"Calamari History"

 

 I have frolicked in the sea with fuzzy-faced otters and schools of shimmering anchovy

 Since the 1800's when Chinese fishermen rowed sampans illuminated by torches to attract me

My tentacles extend deep into the history of Monterey's 180-year-old wharf for squid fishery

Caught, cleaned, and coated in crumbs I am transformed into a crispy local delicacy.

 

#15

 

-              A.J.

Ah Calamari

Be it grilled, braised, sautéed or fried

With just one bite I think I’ve died

And gone to heaven

 

#16

-              M.M.

Gggget it fresh from the dock

Little oil, lemon, flour, sizzle, yup

family happy

Calamari feels like yay

 

#17

 

-              J.P.

 

If you want to look even cooler in your Ferrari, I suggest that you start eating more calamari.  It’s high in protein, vitamins, minerals, and even Omega 3 acids, If you eat enough of it you may not even need glasses.  It creates the perfect day, having it for an appetizer and enjoying the views of Monterey Bay.  Don’t forget the squirt of lemon, ohhhh mama, it’s just heaven!

 

#18

 

-              M.L.

 

CALAMARTINI

 

A little squid swam quickly away, afraid he'd become Calamari…

But soon he was caught,

thrown into a pot,

and served on a plate, with a Toddy!

 

#19

 

-              B.G.

 

Calamari calamari, swimming through the sea

With lemons kisses, ringlets glisten, sizzling just for me

Calamari calamari, back strokes with jet propulsion

Delicious little seafood treats to my belly from the ocean

 

#20

 

-              L.L.

     

If you dine on calamari    

you’ll never be sorry    

it means more than it did    

When it was called squid

 

 

#21

 

-              G.E.

 

"Grandma, what's that?"

"Why, it's Calamari!"

 Sighed to the Basket

"Dudes...I'm so sorry!"

 

     #22

 

-              Amy McClintock

 

     Hail, calamari - what a crispy delight!

     Your tentacles tempt me, such a glorious sight.

    The chewy texture is a wondrous thing.

    Like a rubber band a goddess would fling.

 

     #23

 

-              P.B.

 

   Ode to Calamari

   180 years of squid fishing,

   Over the tongue, down the throat,

   To your tummy, MMM

   Goood squid eating is great,

   FUN FUN FUN!!!!!!!!

 

 

                Tue, Jan 14, 1:28 PM                

 

 

#24

 

-              Deborah Maxwell

 

Calamari, oh calamari

How I do love thee

Fried, sauteed or stuffed with bread crumbs

All I can say is yum.

 

#25

 

 

-              A.L.

                                                 

 

 

The boats go out at night with their lights

They bring in a haul of squid

Frying them up and eating them whole

It's the best thing I ever did!

 

#26

 

-              Ethan James Evans 

 

Calamari pops on my tongue,

It’s got a good deep fried taste.

It makes me feel great when I eat it by the ocean.

I join sperm whales and seals in the feast.

 

#27

 

-              S.R.

 

 Oh Calamari, Oh, Calamari

A Californian, Mariners’ Party

 

When you, swam through, drifts in the blue

I caught you, in nets askew Hoist heaving, to the skies Moist breathing, crying eyes.

 

Chop, flour, drop

I dropped you,

in a rolling boil of oil And just like that Your pale skin,

now gleams golden, Screams untold when, The first time, everytime.

 

Salty, sweet, purity I love your meat

What a treat, for us to find A mariner’s rhyme

Woven breadcrumbs Like aged fine wine.

 

A Noble sacrifice, We are sorry Cheers go to you, Oh, Calamari.

 

#28

-              Paige Weisskirch

                                                 

 

 

 

Some fear your tentacles at sight,

Until they're fried up crisp and light,

Then suddenly, you're all the rage,

Star of every menu page!

 

#29

 

-              Anne Leibolt

 

Oh Calamari, so perfectly crisp.

How do I chose between tentacles, rings or strips?

Loved and delicious, each and every bite.

Savored even more, when fried up just right!

 

#30

 

-              Martin Leibolt

                                                 

 

 

 

               

Fried calamari, get in my tummy.

How can something so ugly, taste so yummy?

What do I chose between tentacles, rings or steaks?

I’ll take them all, keep your digits off my plate!

 

#31

 

-              Paul Gaedke

                                                 

 

 

 

In oceans deep, a treasure rare,

With tender rings, my heart you snare.

Crispy joy, in every bite,

Calamari, my delight!

 

#32

 

-              K.J.

 

Crisp tentacles beckon from the plate,

nestled among succulent glistening rings.

While the others study their menus, I see my chance,

and eat them all.

 

#33

 

-              S.L.

 

 Ode to Calamari by Stephanie Lawrence

 (With apologies to EBB)

 

 How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways

 Rings, tentacles or steaks, fried or sautés

 Oh Calamari I can only say

  I could surely eat you each and every day.

 

#34

 

-              Joel Amos Evans 

 

What is Calamari?

Oh yeah! It’s squid,

Super good squid!

I eat it with ranch.

 

#35

 

-              Joan Ambers  

 

When I was a kid, you offered me squid;

I turned up my nose, "Nope.  I'm sorry!"

Then you brought me to eat the most succulent treat,

Which you cleverly called calamari!

 

#36

 

-              C.F.

 

They exclaimed “It’s like abalone!”

One taste and I knew that was phony.

But this inky squid’s yummy,

You get more for your money.

Let the sea otters eat abalone.