The Shrimp Odyssey
I'm a Jew. Hence, I have a love for all that is forbidden to my people - shrimp most especially. At two recent weddings, I discovered that my ardent passion for prawns was shared by another Jewess pal, my friend Pam. The two of us trolled the parties in search of plump, chilled shrimp to gorge ourselves so we could pass on the upcoming standards of "salmon or filet mignon." So, when I proposed that Pam join a dinner party I was planning, it seemed inevitable that shrimp would be on the menu.
The menu? Glad you asked:
*Truffled Duck Liver Mousse Pate, Cacio de Roma Cheese, Grapes and a selection of Crackers
*Chilled Carrot Soup with Fines Herbes Mousse (recipe was from "The French Laundry," and wasn't a real winner - should've known better, since I wasn't "wowed" when I dined at the restaurant a few years back.)
*Basque-style Shrimp with Pastis, Lemon, Herbs and Cherry Tomatoes (found gorgeous, orange, low-acid cherry tomatoes at my local greenmarket - yum!)
*Stirato Bread from Sullivan Street Bakery (for dunking)
*Sauteed Red Swiss Chard with Garlic (also a greenmarket find, these leafy reddish greens were absolutely irresistable)
*Dried-Glazed Orange and Canteloupe Slices (an awesome palate-cleansing course)
*Fresh Blueberry Crumble with Ricotta Sorbet
Needless to say, no one left my home hungry Saturday night.
But, it was really the shrimp dish that got the majority of the evening's buzz. Quite possibly it is because, while we munched on pate and cheese, I shared the tale of finding the little suckers.
Wanting to secure premium, flavorful shrimp and noticing the relatively low prices for fine looking specimens during a recent trip to Flushing, I decided that I wanted to pick up the seafood in Manhattan's Chinatown. I posted a query on Chowhound for fishmonger recommendations and got a flurry of ideas and info - including news of the fact that the overriding majority of shrimp for sale is actually of the frozen and then defrosted variety.
Hmm. That didn't sound too tasty - and it probably wasn't worth the schlep into Chinatown either. I canvassed my neighborhood for shrimp options and came up with a half-way decent price ($10.99 per pound) for half-way decent shrimp (Tiger - the least flavorful on the market) at my local Garden of Eden, but I just wasn't sold.
Happily a fellow foodie-in-arms came to my rescue with a brilliant suggestion - brine the shrimp. He sent me Mark Bittman's recipe, which I'll gladly pass along upon request. At another friend's recommendation, I took the N train over to Brooklyn's Chinatown and bought four pounds of frozen white shrimp from Venezuela for only $28, dashed them home and set to brining. The rest - as they say - is culinary history.
One caveat: The shrimp did taste fabulous, but it also might have been the whole scene surrounding my attempt to flambe them in the Pastis, with a guest at-the-ready with a fire extinguisher, that also might've gotten the crowd talking.