Catch the Current hosts Amanda Buckle and Lorin Castiglione have decided to make their own award for the most delicious sample at Seafood Expo North America -- and the 2025 award unanimously goes to Angel Oak Smokehouse for its smoked salmon ravioli! 

We are not exaggerating when we tell you that multiple people stopped us on the Boston show floor to tell us to visit the Angel Oak booth and try what they were sampling. And it did not disappoint! 

Angel Oak founder Jade Taylor, who previously joined Catch the Current in January to talk about the launch of the company, returns to the podcast with her husband and co-founder, Gantt Taylor, to give us an oral history of the smoked salmon ravioli that everyone couldn't stop talking about. 

Listen on YouTube below!

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Don't have time to listen? You're missing out! But you can also read a full transcript of the podcast interview below:

Amanda Buckle (AB): You're listening to Catch the Current. I'm Amanda Buckle.

Lorin Castiglione (LC): And I'm Lorin Castiglione.

AB: We are live in Boston for Seafood Expo North America, where we are taking the show floor by storm for an epic series we are calling "Boston 2025 in 5."

LC: That's right. We are covering as much ground as we can over the next few days, bringing you the best of the best that SENA has to offer.

AB: So, without any further ado...

AB and LC: Let's "catch the current."

AB: I'm Amanda Buckle. I'm on the show floor at Seafood Expo North America on day three. We all made it. And by we, I mean Jade Taylor and Gantt Taylor, the dynamic duo behind Angel Oak Smokehouse. Welcome guys.

Gantt Taylor (GT): Thank you. Thank you so much for having us.

Jade Taylor (JT): Thank you. 

AB: Jade was already on Catch the Current. We met at GSMC and you teased that you were debuting the product at Boston.

Lorin and I came over here yesterday. We didn't have a chance to talk because the booth was slammed. So talk to me about the reception at Boston. I mean, this has to be a really great feeling that you debut this product and people love it. 

Angel Oak co-founders Gantt and Jade Taylor at Seafood Expo North America. Photo Credit: Angel Oak

JT: It's been incredible. I mean, to have created something for so many years and finally get it in front of so many people has been just a dream come true.

AB: Tell us about what products you debuted.

GT: Yes, so we really launched our hot-smoked [salmon] here. We'll be launching our cold-smoked at [the] Fancy Foods [Show] in June. And we also launched a frozen ravioli product that kind of came up, turning a mistake into something good. So we've had a just overwhelming response to that product and that's something we're really excited about.

AB: Yeah. And when you say you launch this product here, I mean, people have been talking about this all throughout the show floor. People have stopped me on the floor and been like, "You've got to go over to Angel Oak -- they have this ravioli." So is this a product that you were planning on actually selling?

GT: We will be selling it. It wasn't planned that way.

So the story that kind of came up is we were making our samples for the show and we had a really ... not a bad batch, it just didn't come out to the standard that we have.

We're really -- I think you can see it in our booth, we're really particular about the way everything looks. And it just wasn't up to our standards. The smoker heated up too quickly and it just wasn't the golden brown color that we aim for. 

We had to figure out how to avoid throwing away a lot of fish. Jade and I had our child six months ago and we needed a date night. So we decided, hey, we'll make some ravioli together. And that's how the product came to be.

Photo Credit: Amanda Buckle

AB: So, a literal labor of love? Are you kidding me, guys?

GT: It's got lemon zest in it, ricotta cheese, our hot-smoked salmon and some chives. And people have just been obsessed with it.

AB: This is so good. That filling is just...you want more of it. I know we were saying ...we got one sample of it, I'm like, get the whole plate.

GT: Exactly. It's been moving quickly. And yeah, it doesn't need anything else. I mean, you could put a white cream sauce on it if you wanted to. I think the only thing you need is a glass of white wine.

AB: There we go. And that's what we'll be serving next, Boston, right?

GT: Yeah, we've actually already talked about it. We want to do a wine tasting next year. A little wine-pairing action. So be on the lookout for that.

AB: What's Angel Oak's vision?

GT: We want to start with our bread and butter, which is our hot- and cold-smoked [salmon].

Photo Credit: Amanda Buckle

But one thing that we're really on a mission to do is show people the versatility of hot-smoked. You know, you can throw it in a salad, you can throw it in a pasta, you can throw it on a biscuit, which we've been doing here, and people love that as well. So, you know, value-added is something we're definitely interested in.

One thing that you can look at Jade's dad's history in the business, but innovation is something that's really at the core of what we do. We constantly want to be figuring out new ways to bring our products to people. And if that's through a value-added way, then that's something we're definitely interested in, but with smoked salmon at the center of it. 

AB: It was fantastic. So you're hoping to get this into retail?

GT: Yeah. We've had a lot of interest on the foodservice side of it as well, too, which is kind of surprising. But yeah, we're going to do either a 10- or 12-pack for retail. It'll be a frozen product. We've had some pretty big retailers, I can't really say by name, but yeah, I've showed a lot of them. So, hopefully, you'll see this on the store shelf soon.

AB: This is a podcast, so this is all audio, but you've got to see the smiles on these two faces. You can just tell that they've had a Boston and this is the first time. And I'm going to take another picture of the booth because the booth has just been beautiful. I'm so happy for you two.

Angel Oak's Seafood Expo North America booth. Photo Credit: Angel Oak

I didn't say it, but we were doing "Boston 2025 in 5" and it is five minutes. Lorin's usually the one with the timer, so I'm going to have to end this here. But you guys are going to be back on the podcast because we're just going to have to hear more about the success.

And keep us involved in your test kitchen, please, because I want more of those ravioli. So let us know as soon as they're in retail because we'll be the first ones buying them.

GT: Yeah, we're always looking for people who want to sample, so we'll have to send you some.

AB: All right. Thanks guys. Enjoy the rest of your Boston.