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Sicilian red prawns, the gambero rosso of the Strait of Sicily: No. 2 grade, whole prawns, shell and head on, 1kg, 20 to 30 prawns
Original price was: £140.00.£69.00Current price is: £69.00.
Two wild deep-sea prawns are worth knowing, and one is already in the larder. The Carabineros is the scarlet one. This is the Sicilian red, Aristaeomorpha foliacea, the gambero rosso of the Strait of Sicily, fished at depth and brought in head-on and shell-on.
These are the No. 2s, about 20 to 30 to the kilo, the grade on Michelin menus and the size the kitchens order. We buy them from the suppliers to those restaurants. Our chef grilled them for three minutes, shell and head on.
The flesh was sweet, the texture close to velvet, and the head is where the deepest flavour and bisque sauce lives. Four to a plate was more than the dish needed. Three is a generous serving; two, on a small mound of risotto, is the right starter before a fillet steak.
A kilo is then a dinner for eight, or supper twice for four.
A comparable kilo is about £140 at specialist retail. For Members, £69, delivered by refrigerated van, as with the Carabineros.
For more details, and to order, please rad on . . .
The flavour is not a trick of the kitchen. Aristaeomorpha foliacea lives deep in the Strait of Sicily, several hundred metres down, where the water is cold, the pressure high and the feed is what the current brings rather than what a farm pond offers. That is why the flesh is sweet rather than fierce, and why the head carries a bisque richness a shallow-water prawn never develops. The shell is a darker red than the Carabinero. The two are cousins, not copies. Argentine “red prawns” at a fraction of the price are a different species, Pleoticus muelleri, and not the comparison.
They arrive frozen because this is a prawn that does not keep its texture if it is held fresh for a journey. Defrost overnight in the fridge, in a colander, never in warm water. Cook from just thawed: three minutes on a hot grill , shell and head on, a little sea salt, nothing else. Our chef served with a light risotto, the rice absorbing the juices from the prawn including the heads.
One kilo, head-on, shell-on, about 20 to 30 prawns. Frozen, and delivered by refrigerated van, so not every postcode can be reached. Member Services will confirm: 020 7399 2960. Retail £140. Members £69, including delivery.
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