Violet sea squirt ✦

Violet (figue de mer)

What it is

It is not a shellfish: tunicates are chordates, and the violet spent its larval life as a swimming tadpole with a notochord before cementing itself head-down onto a rock. Its leathery outer coat is built from cellulose, which no other animal on earth manufactures.

In the kitchen

Cut it open across the middle, scoop out the yellow alone and discard the whole leathery envelope with its fluid. Eat it within the hour of opening, at the stall if you can: nothing about it improves on the walk home, and lemon is the only seasoning it will take.

Goes with

Lemon Olive oil Black pepper Sea urchin Oyster Shallot Parsley White wine vinegar

In season alongside

Belon flat oyster Scallop coral Abalone Bagnoli truffle Brown shrimp Clam

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