Scallops with a cheese sauce? Never.
Whitianga’s annual scallop festival celebrates the region’s most famous harvest. About 8000 scallop lovers descend on the Coromandel township and eat their way through 100,000 scallops, along with kina (sea urchins), whitebait fritters and rock oysters.
I spent a pleasant evening as a guest at the Italianesque Tawatawa Lodge, near Whangamata, before driving to Whitianga, where I followed the crowd down to the waterfront festival site. The stallholders were offering a variety of dishes, including rich scallop and potato curry with coconut cream and peas, an ambitious pan-roasted scallop, truffled cauliflower mornay and bacon crumble and scallops marinated in verjuice with Limoncello, lime curd and lemon zest. There were also scallops encrusted with macadamia nuts or served in chardonnay shooters or blue Curacao.
The most complete dish I had was the scallop flautas: scallops wrapped in a tortilla, crispy fried and served with a chilli, coriander and lime dressing, accompanied by a salad of raw onion, sour cream and a guacamole that helped to cut the heat from the chilli. I also ate my way through two dozen oysters with a Japanese dressing – courtesy of the Mercury Bay Area School. And I had far too many kina, with their pure sweet taste of the sea.
But I kept going back to the raw, freshly shucked scallops served with only the juice of a lemon. These rich, delicate morsels wrapped themselves around my tongue, slid across my palate and burst with flavour.
These simple tips will help you get perfect results when cooking scallops:
l Avoid recipes that involve cheese sauces, as they are too heavy and strong for the mollusc’s delicate flavour.
l To stop the scallops “spitting” while cooking, pierce the orange coral of the roe and the white muscle using the tip of a sharp knife.
l Oil the scallops but not the pan. In a separate bowl, pour melted unsalted butter over the scallops. Just enough butter will stick to prevent them from stewing in their own juices and turning tough and rubbery when cooked.
l Use an extremely hot pan. You want the scallops to sear quickly and caramelise to form a golden crust.
The scallop Caesar salad is a variation on a classic. Some purists will argue that classics shouldn’t be messed with, but I think that the flavours and textures work well.
Scallop Caesar Salad with Horseradish Vinaigrette
½ baguette, cut into 1cm cubes
olive oil
8 rashers streaky bacon
1 cos lettuce
2 tbsp unsalted butter or olive oil
24 whole scallops
sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 lemon
4 tbsp horseradish vinaigrette
4 tbsp shaved parmesan cheese
2 tbsp chives, finely chopped
Preheat the oven to 180?C. Toss the bread cubes in enough olive oil to coat and place them on a baking tray. Bake for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Place the bacon on a baking tray and bake until crisp, then finely slice the rashers into matchsticks. Trim the lettuce leaves, discarding the tough exterior ones, roughly chopping the mid-layer ones and keeping the tender inner leaves whole. Heat a frying pan over a high heat. Melt the unsalted butter in the microwave and pour it over the scallops in a separate bowl. Alternatively, use olive oil. Add the scallops to the hot pan, turning once when golden brown. Remove from the pan and season lightly with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Toss the lettuce with the croutons, bacon and scallops. Drizzle with horseradish vinaigrette and scatter over the parmesan and chives.
Serves 4.
Horseradish VINAIGRETTE
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp horseradish cream
sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Whisk the ingredients until combined.
THIS NEXT RECIPE COULD BE A FANCY entrée dish. Rounds of potato, sautéed in butter until crisp, are heavenly when combined with asparagus and anchovy butter. If asparagus is unavailable, use green or broad beans.
Pan-roasted Scallops with Crispy Potatoes, Asparagus and Anchovy Butter
20 asparagus spears
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, or olive oil
12 gourmet potatoes, cooked and cut into
5mm-thick rounds
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
24-30 scallops, depending on the size
juice of a lemon
3 tbsp anchovy butter
garnish: 2 tsp chopped chives
Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and plunge in the asparagus. Cook until tender – a maximum of 3 minutes. Remove the asparagus from the water, drain on a wet tea towel, then roll it up to keep the asparagus warm. In a large frying pan heat 2 tablespoons of butter and cook the potatoes until crisp. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Drain on absorbent kitchen paper and keep in a warm place.
Wipe the frying pan clean and return it to the heat. Put the scallops into a bowl and mix with the remaining melted butter until they are well coated. Carefully add the scallops to the hot pan and cook until golden brown. Season with salt and a squeeze of lemon juice, then remove from the pan and lower the heat. Add the anchovy butter to the pan and let it melt slowly while stirring through the pan juices. Place a small pile of the potatoes in the centre of each plate and lay 5 asparagus spears on top. Divide the scallops between the plates and pour anchovy butter over each stack. Sprinkle with chives.
Serves 4.
Anchovy Butter
300g unsalted butter, softened
5 anchovies
juice of a lemon
freshly ground black pepper
Purée the first three ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Season with pepper. Place the butter on a piece of greaseproof paper and roll into a long log shape. Refrigerate until ready to use. Will keep for months in the freezer.
Martin Bosley stayed in the Coromandel courtesy of the Tawatawa Lodge, Opoutere Rd, Whangamata. www.tawatawa.co.nz