Editor's note: Tres Hundertmark, with 18 years as a professional in the kitchen, is executive chef of The Lobster Trap in Asheville, N.C., currently under construction.

Formerly of Biloxi, he served as a chef at Beau Rivage. While in Biloxi, he volunteered to cook for about 35 artists during their annual Horn Island Experience with the Ohr-O'Keefe Museums. He provided the artists gourmet meals on the island without the benefits of a kitchen.

Hundertmark is not new to the sea, having been a chef at Chanticleer on Nantucket Island. He was a chef at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., and the House of Blues in New Orleans.

He co-authored a cookbook with his mother, Peggy Taylor. "Mother of the Chef" is set for publication in January.

He has published numerous food articles in newspapers and magazines and has appeared on radio and television to help people improve their culinary skills.

Foraging has been a hobby of mine for many years. Whether it is walking through the woods looking for wild mushrooms or walking the aisles of an ethnic grocery in town, searching out and finding something new is always fun.

Mississippi residents certainly can benefit from the state's natural resources when it comes to great food. For years, Mississippi's microculture has provided an opportunity for sustainable agri- and aqua- culture. Mississippians have had the ability to purchase locally raised products from both land and sea in their local grocery stores and in farmers' markets throughout the state. And when it comes to finding things in the wilds of Mississippi there is fertile ground and sea for items that seem to be exclusively Mississippi's own.

Gautier Mayhaw Co. can supply those who don't want to venture out with some great mayhaw jelly. I loved using this item on the buffet at the Beau Rivage and offering guests something that was truly indigenous to our area.

A wide variety of wild mushrooms also grow well in Mississippi. Several times I picked cepes, better known as boletes to mushroom foragers, in the flower beds at Beau Rivage on my way into work. And let's face it, we would not be true southerners if we could not find at least one use for kudzu, which makes a sweet, though not so flavorful, jelly.

For me and for many who make their living in the food industry, my favorite of Mississippi's resources come from the Gulf, rivers and pond farms spread throughout the state.

Shrimp, oysters and catfish are some of the great pleasures of life and are all native to the state.

I must salute the Point Cadet Farmers Market in Biloxi for offering a wide variety of produce. The market is not limited to produce but includes fresh caught seafood and small live stock and live fowl. It is beautiful to be able to walk through the market and be able to get the fresh shrimp, corn and potatoes you need for a tasty shrimp boil.

Whether you're hunting wild sassafras, stalking wild boar or tossing a cast net for brown mullet, you can be sure that hunting and gathering in Mississippi will bring rewards to your table.

I have included several recipes using products found in Mississippi. As our markets change, many farmers will have to change the way they do business to continue to farm and while this is certainly a hardship as long as they can count on us, the consumer, to understand and support their efforts and families, farming and fishing will have longlasting relationships with our residents.

You say soybean, I say edamame

Although soybeans have provided large crops for many farmers in America for years, it has never really been an item we see at the dinner table as a green vegetable.

However, with the popularity of Sushi bars and Japanese cuisine, edamame, or soybeans, have increased in popularity. Simplot, a large food producer primarily known for potatoes, recently has taken an interest in soybeans, marketing them as edamame.

I generally take it as a sign that if a big company gets involved that it is more than just a fad, and when you see it in the grocery stores you can believe that it has an even broader appeal. Edamame can be found in the heath food section or soy product sections in many grocery stores and both fresh and frozen in most health food stores.

Summer Catfish

4 catfish fillets

salt and pepper

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1/2 red onion, julienned

2 ears sweet corn (peaches 'n' cream variety), kernel cut from the cob

1 cup edamame, shelled soybeans

1 cup water

1 ripe tomato

1 cup red potato, diced and par boiled

1 stick butter, softened

1 lemon

1/2 bunch parsley, chopped

Place catfish fillets in a baking pan or casserole dish, folding the thin tail under the middle part of the fillet. Season with salt and pepper and bake at 375 degrees until flesh is firm and cooked through, about 10-15 minutes depending on thickness of fillets. Remove from heat and reserve.

While fish is baking, place garlic and onion in a sauce pan and sweeten with corn. Add soybeans and water and allow to simmer a few minutes. Add tomatoes and potatoes and cook a few moments more. Mix in butter with sauce pan off the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Generously coat the fish fillets with fresh-squeezed lemon juice and chopped parsley. Place fillets in the middle of a dinner plate and spoon succotash evenly over the fillets. Makes four servings.

Oysters Atlanta

As a chef, I have experienced oysters in many ways - and tasted many varieties of oysters. A mentor chef, David Trout, once told me once you begin you are on a lifelong journey to find the best, most magnificent oyster. Any time is oyster time. The journey continues; with each dozen a new favorite is found.

Of all of the dozens that I have consumed I have only been lucky enough to find one pearl, a relatively large black one.

On a serious note - eating raw shellfish can be a factor of discomfort because of food borne disease. It is suggested that if you are suffering from a weak immune system or diabetes you should avoid consuming raw shellfish. It is also suggested that the very young and elderly minimize or restrict raw shellfish from their diets.

With all of that said, any oyster could be a bad one. Any oyster could be dry. Any oyster could be gritty. Any oyster could have a pearl. Any oyster could be the best oyster you have ever eaten.

Barbecue Shrimp

This is an easy way to prepare shrimp with the heads intact and a perfect way to enjoy our shrimp from the Gulf.

2 pounds Large Shrimp, whole

1/2 pound butter

1 bunch scallions

4 tablespoons blackening spice

12 ounces beer

In a large sautÈ pan or iron skillet heat 1/2 of the butter, add shrimp and toss until shrimp are coated with butter. Add scallions and blackening spice, toss until well coated. Add beer and reduce until almost dry. Remove pan from heat and toss in remaining butter a bit at a time, stirring as you do. Makes four servings.

You can serve Barbecue Shrimp over corn bread, biscuits or steamed rice, or serve it by itself.

Chef Tres' Oyster Stew

The only thing that I can say about this Oyster Stew recipe is that it is the only recipe that I have ever had a customer offer me money for. By the time he was done paying off the waiter for asking me for the recipe, Foster had spent $300. His point being he could have spent $1,000.00 on cookbooks and never gotten it. Or he could have moved to Mississippi and waited 10 years and gotten it for free. But trust me, every time he comes in a restaurant that I am working in, I always start him out with a complimentary bowl of oyster stew.

3 bulbs spring onions, (about the size of shallots) minced

1/2 pound bacon pieces

1 pint oysters with liquid

1 quart milk

1 quart heavy cream

1/2 pound fresh spinach leaves

1 stick of butter, softened

pinch of nutmeg

salt and pepper

Render bacon in a soup pot. When bacon is beginning to get crisp, add the minced spring onions. Cook until soft. Add oysters and liquid. Allow to simmer until sides of the oysters begin to curl. Add milk and cream. Bring to a simmer.

It is important to not boil the stew. Turn off heat. Stir in spinach leaves, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Serve in soup bowls. Top each bowl with a soup spoon of butter. Makes six to eight servings.