Shrimps and Prawns

Crevettes et bouquets (shrimps and prawns) teach the discipline of leaving good food alone. The one true thing to know before touching a platter is that freshness is the preparation: the crustaceans must smell clean and briny, feel firm through the shell, and arrive thoroughly cold. No sauce can rescue tired shellfish, and none belongs here.

The original assumed a fishmonger selling freshly cooked crustaceans in brisk turnover and a cupboard filled with boat-shaped hors-d’œuvre dishes. It needed no saucier, standing stock, or salamander because there is no cooked foundation to build. Here, the brigade quantity becomes twenty-four small shrimps and twelve prawns for four guests, while one long oval platter replaces the specialized dish. The boat shape is service scaffolding and may go; the freshness, whole shells, deliberate overlap, and curled parsley are the dish and must stay. One cook, one stove left cold, one evening.

When it reaches the table, the shells should be pink-coral and faintly glossy against deep green parsley, with every curved body visible and ready to lift by hand. Dry the crustaceans thoroughly before arranging them. That small act decides whether the platter looks abundant and bright or wet and weary.