Traditional smoked mullet sold roadside

Nikkie Brockamp COURTESY PHOTO Many cars on rural State Road 80, going east to Alva and LaBelle or west to Fort Myers, honked and waved. Nikkie Brockamp stood by the side of the road trying to stay cool in a bikini, smiling and waving back. Black letters on a white sign by her truck advertised fresh smoked mullet.

It was the first day of summer, Father's Day. Ms. Brockamp seemed in a celebratory mood although she was there under adverse circumstances.

"I love people," she said. "I love talking with them when they stop by." It wasn't only that she had run out of water and it was nearing 3 p.m. and the air was like a sauna (once in a while she sat in the truck and turned on the air conditioning). But three weeks ago, the barbecue place she ran, RJ Bones, had to close.

"We were losing money," Ms. Brockamp said. "It wasn't busy enough. So I'm without work and this is how we're surviving. I was a little embarrassed when I first started — but the bills have to get paid."

Some of her old customers stopped and bought a piece of fish. "They (RJ Bones) had the best food," said Alva resident Deb Karstedt, taking away a saranwrapped package of mullet. LaBelle resident Wendy Long stopped by with her father. "If you were born and raised down here, this is Florida living," she said about smoked mullet, an archetypal Southwest Florida comfort food. It was a staple for Calusa Indians and other early settlers in Florida. And also for Lakeland resident Lois Danforth. She and her husband Allan pulled off the road to buy some.

"My wife's dad was a commercial fisherman," Mr. Danforth said. "She lived on a houseboat in Marco Island and the Everglades. So she was raised on swamp cabbage and mullet. Now that we're inland, she doesn't get it. She gets it whenever she can."

Ms. Brockamp's friend, Brooke Harvey, who is 18 and used to be a waitress at RJ Bones, was also there to earn some extra money selling the fish. And one of

her three roommates, J.J. Blissett, an airconditioner

repairman from Brooklyn, also stopped by. They all share a house in LaBelle. Mr. Blissett brought his son and some much-needed iced tea.

Then for a long time it was quiet and hot. There was no sign of the usual, cooling summer afternoon rain — although Ms. Brockamp was hoping for it to come. "(Business) will come in spurts," she said, looking out at the scorched asphalt. "And then it won't." Someone in a monster truck honked and waved.

She was planning to stay out on the road until 5 p.m. and then try selling some mullet to the Alva Fire Department. The firemen there used to be some of her best customers at RJ Bones.

Ms. Brockamp had sold 27 mullet (filleted and in $4, $6 and $9 sizes) since getting to the spot around 1 p.m. Her boyfriend, Jeff Bonard, and his nephew, who both live in Buckingham, buy the mullet from fishermen on Fort Myers Beach and smoke them. She plans to sell them by the side of the road every weekend (code enforcement prohibits her from being there on weekdays, she said), and maybe expanding this tailgate fish market to include drinks or other foods.

Selling the mullet reminded Ms. Brockamp of roadside food vendors in Hawaii, where she grew up. They were called Manapua trucks.

"In High School, that's what I ate every day," she said. "They sold fried noodles, pork hash, teriyaki plates, candy…" Manapua is a pork dumpling.

Ms. Brockamp left Hawaii and moved to Georgia, where her father is a police officer, when she was in her late 20s. Her mother, who was Korean, died from cervical cancer when Ms. Brockamp was 6, leaving behind four other daughters and two sons. Two of Ms. Brockamp's sisters now live in Fort Myers and have families. She also has a son who lives with his father near Jacksonville and a daughter who lives in Georgia.

"I'm going to turn 43 next month," she said. "I think I'm still trying to find myself, to be honest with you."

Meanwhile, Ms. Brockamp has been a waitress at many local restaurants like Rib City Grill, Sonny's Barbeque and The Cottage on Fort Myers Beach. She plans to get another job waitressing somewhere soon. But for the time being, you can find her on SR80 on the weekends, offering fresh smoked mullet or just a friendly wave.