KEEN cook Ian Grierson is once again inviting readers to take a step back in time and remember foods of yesteryear.
In this article, he shares his recipe for potted shrimp, a family favourite from his childhood.
Ian said: “Our “prawns” are what Americans call “shrimp”, but our “shrimps” are just little fellows that definitely are not potted gold; liquid, solid or otherwise. The tiny brown shrimp surely are something special, what they lack in size they undoubtedly make up in taste.
“To me the little brown lads are right at the top of the best seafood to eat and I really like seafood!
“In my younger days I used to buy them fresh and unpeeled. Although I really enjoyed them, they are a preparation nightmare so, life being too short for regular shrimp collecting and peeling, I now buy them in a pot from a town fishmonger already cooked and prepared.
“Potting as a kitchen activity is a longstanding British technique for preserving meats from spoiling. The Scots cook Meg Dods, in her book “ The Cook and Housewife’s Manual” from the early 19th century, claimed that when covered by a thick layer of butter the potted contents could survive three or four weeks without spoiling. For that to be the case the melted butter needs to be clarified as the solids, if ignored, will taint the potting within a day or so.”
His recipe goes like this:
400g peeled and cooked brown shrimps
250g unsalted butter
10ml (2tblsp) Worcestershire sauce
2.5ml (½ tsp) cayenne pepper
Some gratings of fresh nutmeg
8 slices of dry toast
2 lemons quartered
Warm the butter gently in a little pan on the hob under low heat until it is just off the preboil bubble. When the butter is melted the solids form a white scum on top and the watery components collect at the bottom. Skim off the white surface solids with a spoon and pour the clarified butter fat into a warm bowl but make sure to leave enough butter behind so the watery bottom elements are discarded.
Keep the clarified butter warm; mix in the shrimps until they are well coated. Add in the sauce, the cayenne pepper and scrape in some nutmeg. Pour into individual moulds or ramekins and let them set in the fridge. Serve with long fingers of dry toast (slice each toast long ways into 4) with 2 toasts per plate alongside a ramekin of potted shrimp and 2 segments of lemon.
Ian, who lives in Annan, said: “Even today pots of brown shrimp and already prepared potted shrimp in butter are available at some supermarkets, fishmongers and online. Although not quite the same, small prawns will do the job reasonably well.
“The butter clarification used here is fairly crude and inevitably incomplete so the potted shrimp will last only a few days. If you need longer preservation pass the butterfat through a muslin or cheesecloth lined sieve for more effective removal of surface solids.”
