Brown shrimp

Crevette grise

What it is

At Oostduinkerke on the Belgian coast fishermen still drag their nets through the surf behind Brabant draught horses, a practice UNESCO listed as intangible heritage in December 2013, and the catch goes into the pot on the beach. The shrimp is boiled within minutes because otherwise it goes to mush, which is why it reaches a kitchen already cooked and never raw.

In the kitchen

Peel them yourself and keep every head and shell: twenty minutes in melted butter over the lowest heat, then strain, and you have the shrimp butter that justifies the whole job. Never reheat the peeled tails — warm them in the sauce off the heat.

Goes with

Butter Lemon Parsley Egg Rye berries Tomato Chives

Also used with

Lemon sole Sea kale

In season alongside

Belon flat oyster Dog cockle Dulse Abalone Japanese abalone Clam

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