Saturday 28 December 2013

How to eat langoustines




In Brittany, where I'm from, we love seafood. I come from a seaside region, so fresh fish and seafood were always available for us to enjoy. At every family reunion, Christmas day, New Year's day or any other big event, we ate a big platter of Langoustines ( or Dublin Bay prawns as the Irish call them). Each person around the table would eat them a different way. My dad used to take the shell off them one by one and basically start to eat 15 minutes after everybody. We all had finished our portion and we had to watch him eat, while we were all hungry for the next course... I used to eat my langoustines with lemon and mayonnaise. Some people even eat the meat inside the head , or the claws.

For some strange reason, Irish people are not big fans of seafood or fish. They would eat salmon or fish and chips, maybe peeled prawn, shrimps or crayfish but that's pretty much it. Seafood is also quite expensive ( probably because there's not a big demand) and it seems Ireland is exporting most of its production.

Needless to say it's hard to find an Irish person who knows how to take the shell of a langoustine without hurting himself (or somebody else). 

This morning I went shopping and found frozen Langoustines in Lidl. Yes, the German are bringing me some Dublin Bay prawns, with the shell on and everything! I wouldn't find that in Tesco or Dunnes for sure...

On the back of the box were the "Preparation instructions". These are probably the most hilarious instructions I have read in a long time. Seriously, how do you explain step by step how to eat a langoustine ? Well, read the below and enjoy.  It's obviously too late for me, but, come on, someone who has never eaten a langoustine in his life has to try this.  Just go to Lidl, 4.99 eur for a box, and do it , because I want to know if it works !!