Working in italian food and traveling to Italy, I always search for new products, variety of produce and dishes to try. I also search for the taste of the “materia prima”, to then help me find the alternative when I go back home to Montreal. During my last trip to Sicily, I discovered the gambero rosso, red prawn, and fell in love with it. This prawn mostly comes from the area of Mazara del Vallo on the southwestern coast of the island.
Its dense, meaty flesh and delicate flavour are a dream for any raw seafood aficionado. You take out of the shell and eat it, just like that! Wherever I saw them on menus, I took them. Back in Montreal, I was able to find it’s equivalent, my fish monger suggested the wild side stripe shrimp from British Columbia. Wonderful! The same meatiness, the sweet delicate flavour, as if they were twins separated at birth!
As you can see from the pictures, they are eaten raw, and in the South, often paired with cheese. If you have a chance to try them, whether the gambero rosso or the side stripe shrimp, they are great for the aperitivo! Enjoy!
