Fresh Tasmanian Scallops
I’m happy to admit it, I’m a scallop snob. Frozen imported scallops are available all year round, but the only time I’ll buy them to cook with is when the local scallops are in season.
Tasmania (a big island off of south east Australia) has some of the coldest cleanest sea water in the world and this helps produce what I think is the most flavoursome scallops in the world.
Nicknamed “marshmallows of the sea” these plump sweet and juicy gems can be eaten raw when collected fresh from the ocean or they can be used in a myriad of dishes.
When you’re shopping for scallops avoid ones that are sitting in big pool of water. It’s most likely that these have been soaked to lift there weight to you pay more per kilo than you should.
When cooking with scallops there are a few things to be careful with, first you need to remove the black vein that runs part way around the outside of the white part. This is harmless to eat, but it’s a bit gritty.
Secondly, don’t overpower the flavour of the scallops with other extreme flavours.
And Thirdly don’t overcook them, they don’t take long to cook, in a hot frypan it will just be a couple of minutes. For most dishes I will quickly saute the scallops to seal in there juices then set them aside, adding them back at the last minute, just long enough to heat them through.
So if you get the chance to taste some fresh scallops (especially the tasmanian ones) then jump in and go for it.
[...] the scheme of shell fish I would probably rank the humble mussel in third place after oysters and scallops. What gets mussels into third place is they are abundant (where I am), cheap and reasonably easy to [...]