Mantis shrimp ✦

Squille (crevette-mante)

What it is

It is neither shrimp nor lobster but a stomatopod, an order that split from the other crustaceans hundreds of millions of years ago and kept a folding spear-claw no shrimp ever had. Two dark false eyespots ride on the tail, which is how you pick Squilla mantis out of an Adriatic crate at a glance.

In the kitchen

Run scissors down both edges of the tail and the belly plate lifts away in one piece, legs and all. Steam three minutes and no longer, and buy it within a day of landing — the flesh softens and turns ammoniac faster than anything else on the stall.

Goes with

Olive oil Lemon Garlic Parsley Stone-ground polenta White wine vinegar Tomato Fennel

In season alongside

Clam Surf clam Razor clam Stone crab claw Abalone Northern sweet shrimp

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