Crangon crangon they used to call them in Latin 🙂  We now  know them as North Sea Shrimps (aka brown/grey shrimps. Now they probably sound more familiar.

Aaah, nothing better than being on the beach with a bag of fresh North sea shrimps and a glass of Rodenbach on a sunny day , just lovely (if the seagulls aren’t bothering you)! Local, season and fresh products, that’s what it is all about. I really like to eat local things on the moment you should eat them … One of those local products that I really like eating are North sea shrimps. They mainly get fished in northwest Europe (Belgium, Netherlands, UK). They are so small, but sooooooo full of flavor and really worth the effort of peeling 🙂

I know, I’m also a very lazy person from time to time (almost never 😉 )… so buying them peeled is very tempting. But nothing beats the taste of freshly peeled shrimps! As lots of products, shrimps also have seasons  when they are at their best  (not many people know this).  Maybe if I explain you how in 4 simple steps:

Step 1:

take the shrimp’s tail in your left hand with the shrimp’s back towards you

Step2:

 Push the nail of your right thumb in the middle between the slabs and bend the spine until you hear it

snap.

Step 3:

 Pull with a pinching movement the tail section, from back to front.

Step 4:

Grab hand the shrimp with your left in the middle and pull  the head off with your right hand.

The best periods for  eating shrimps would be April-May and in the Autumn  months. Nowadays this gets done with boast … but there used to be a time when the fishermen used to do it on the back of horses… The only city they are still doing this in the old fashion way is Oostduinkerke. So if you are ever in that region during the season, it is really worth seeing

Something nice to know is that there are no catch limits and this means that it they are not threatened  species.  Another thing that I really didn’t know was that most shrimps are born as a male and become female after 2 years … (inartificial).

Anyhow, I’m  wandering off… back to my initial question, what do ‘Jeunes restaurateurs d’ Europe’ and shrimps have in common?  Well, very simple the “JRE” love working with great fresh and local products 🙂 Did you guys read my post about JRE?? No, shame on you 🙂

You k now what’s we’ll do? This weekend we (you guys and me) will buy some fresh shrimps (unpeeled)

Let’s say about 300g? Then on Monday and Tuesday we’ll make the following dishes from ‘JRE’ together?? Is this a deal?

Breaded shrimp on a bed of nettles, watercress and feta by Laurent Van De Vijver (Restaurant Du four à la Table)

And maybe a recipe from Seppe Nobels? (you might remember him from ‘Jong Keukengeweld’ A  Sea bass tartar with hand peeled shrimp, thyme sorbet and crumble crackers

Or maybe … well, I’ll see when I get to the open air market.

Can’t wait…