Scallops

Scallops are the first thing I've chosen from my list of meat I've never eaten before. I chose them because they turn up endlessly on cookery shows on the telly, so I thought I'd see what all the fuss is about.


Buying

I did think about going to the local fishmonger to buy scallops for this test. For about 2 seconds. Then I remembered the smell of the place when I walk past it, and thought again. So I had a look around the local supermarkets, but all they had were pathetic specimens. In the end I ordered them from my veg box supplier - it seemed the best option, and they sell them with the corals on, which is what I wanted for the full experience.

So here they are. I had a quick sniff - they smell quite nice. The smell of the sea, not particularly fishy, and reassuringly fresh.

I'd already decided to have them with pea puree - I've seen them served that way a lot of times on cookery programs, and the alternatives ways generally threw more meat at them (black pudding, pancetta etc.) which I didn't want.

So for the pea puree I cooked frozen peas in vegetable stock and butter, blitzed them down until they were smooth, and then seasoned them with a little salt and pepper.

Next I fried the scallops, starting them off in olive oil, seasoning them, throwing a knob of butter in toward the end, and finishing with a squeeze of lemon.

Assembly - big dollop of pea puree in the centre of the plate, scallops on top, little bit of salad with balsamic vinegar dressing - job's a goodun.

So let's give these a go. First forkful (half a scallop (no coral) and some pea puree). And it tastes of pea puree. Except it's got a lump of strange chewiness in it that I'm not finding massively pleasant. Let's try the other half (again, no coral). Yep, pea puree, and a strange texture. Hmm - that's not much of a return for over a quid a piece. But there's still the coral. Ah - that's got a little flavour at least. It reminds me a little of cockles (in a good way, not in a gritty vinegary way which is my over-riding memory of cockles).

OK - let's scrape the pea puree off and try again with a naked scallop. Better, but not by much. There's a mild sweet pleasant taste from the caramelised outside, but there's very little else. It's a bit like chewy sea-air (only with less flavour). It's not unpleasant though, and as I polish off the second one I'm getting used to the texture a tad.

So I scoff the rest and all the time I struggle to find enough flavour to justify eating the thing. Beyond the caramelised bit I'm picking up almost nothing. And yet, and yet, and yet - there's something there. I tried alternating between the pea puree on its own, and then with a little scallop, and whilst I can't really pick up the scallop as a distinct flavour, the scallopy one seems to taste better. Odd.

I'm now thinking the pea puree was a mistake. It's quite sweet, and it's masking the scallop, and to top it all off I haven't got a sweet tooth at all. TBH - I reckon these would be better with some mushy peas which would be less sweet (you can treat this as a benchmark of quite how sophisticated I am if you'd like. There's a better one coming up shortly though...).

OK, time to admit that the report and picture above were from my second attempt at scallops. For the first attempt I tried cooking up a couple and, despite my boast in the last post, I messed it up a little - undercooking them a tad (pan not hot enough), and stupidly forgetting to add a little salt. The undercooking makes the texture a little worse, which then probably made the second batch comparatively easier to deal with.

So, that's six scallops accounted for, what did I do with the other two?

Stuck them in a sandwich - that's what.

That right there is a scallop butty, with tabasco sauce. And ketchup. Scallops and ketchup - together at last! TBH they don't fare much worse than with the pea puree. The ketchup hides them (I get a little of the coral coming through again) but it's much better than a ketchup sandwich would be on its own, even if I can't pin down anything specific that I'd call scallop.

Conclusion

I'm intrigued. There's so little flavour there, but the pea puree was better with them. I find myself wanting to like them, but they're not giving me much to work with. I'm tempted to give these buggers another go later, with something more to my taste alongside them. And if I find myself in a swanky restaurant I'd possibly give them a go so that I can have a pop at them at their best.

As of now though, they're not troubling corned beef for the top spot.