To kill a kicking prawn

Delia Smith once wrote that she was not considered a cook by certain people. The blighters that said this stated that unless you can kill a crustacean yourself, you cannot be considered a chef. Delia couldn't do this and until recently I thought I couldn't either. 

This changed when Neil and I visited a small village on Vancouver Island called Tofino. On a long weekend break with some friends, we decided to buy some live crabs to feast on. It sounded like a great idea at first, but little did we know that in order to enjoy them, everyone would have to partake in the dispatching of them. 

Everybody with access to a kitchen were given 4 crabs and instructions. It seemed easy enough. The crabs were quietly resting and the huge pan of water was rapidly boiling, ready to receive them. I unceremoniously dumped my 4 crabs into the sink. All seemed well until one plucky fella decided to make an escape attempt by trying to climb up the side of the sink. I think it was the desperation of his attempt and not the movement that started to make me feel quite guilty, but, I grabbed him and threw him in the pot. Again, he tried to escape, this time half out of the boiling water and half in. I almost cried. But, we continued with the instructions: put a lid on and walk away for 10 minutes whilst they cook and everything else was uneventful. We enjoyed the sweet meat with lime juice, butter and salt, but I wasn't sure if I could do it again.

Then, on Saturday, a friend told me about the BC Spot prawn season on at the moment, where the short 8 week season brings boats in every day to sell these shrimp. Neil and I went down to Fisherman's Wharf to line up with others to buy some. They were alive, very alive. We bought a 2 lb bag and took them, kicking and wriggling, back home to be deposited into a bowl of cold water with a tea towel on top as per instructions by the seller on how to store and kill them. 

For the rest of the day, which included a pleasant walk, a visit to an art school's degree show, a browse around a gourmet market and two drinks at the 'Pirate Pub', the only thing I could think of was how to kill those prawns. The Internet said twist their heads off, stab them in the eyes, boil them alive. The sellers said boil em' too and even the pub server, who was from Nova Scotia and insisted she had lots of experience, said boiling was the best way to go. "Will they scream?" I asked the sellers, "no, we're the ones that scream", they said with a good fisherman's ooh arrgh thrown in as they laughed at me. My stomach started to turn.

When Neil and I got home, with the looming eventuality of the prawns demise hanging over us, we were relieved and a little disconcerted to find them already dead. Completely dead, no doubt. We were relieved because we had been spared the horror of killing them, but disconcerted as to what we had done wrong. Were they supposed to die this way?  We continued with the process of cooking them with shrugged shoulders.

I decided to make a dish with spaghetti and a tomato based sauce, now that I could peel the prawns before cooking. It was a good meal, but I have to truthfully admit that Neil and I found them quite indifferent eating. They were soft, as promised, but quite tasteless and a $25 bag fed two people one meal. The expense wasn't such an issue, however, as I feel we should try everything living so close to the ocean gives us, so, once and once only, is OK.

If I wanted to end this post with a clear conscience, I would write that I saved the shells and froze them to make a bisque or sauce and that no part of the prawn was wasted, but, I'm sorry to say Neil and I wanted all fishy evidence and smells out of the apartment after all the drama and so we threw the prized shells away. Besides, when our last freezer broke, there were several bags of frozen shells lurking that I suspect had been there for a couple of years. I apologise humbly to the prawn Gods.

Recipe : Spot prawn spaghetti

2 lb live or dead spot prawns, peeled if dead.

1 tsp butter and 1 tsp oil

1 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, peeled and diced

8 small cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup vermouth or white wine

2 tbsp cream cheese

1 tsp chicken stock

1 tbsp fresh shredded dill

1 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp salt

large squeeze of lemon juice

spaghetti for two.

First, kill your prawns if necessary. The Internet can help you with this with many different suggestions on how to to this humanely.

Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan over low heat and gently sweat the onion, garlic and tomatoes until soft and thick. 

Add the alcohol, cream cheese and stock and cook gently until thick and sauce like.

Boil the spaghetti in a large pan of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving a little of the water.

Add the spaghetti, about 1 tbsp of cooking water and the prawns to the frying pan and cook over gentle heat until heated through and the prawns are cooked, add the dill.

Serve piled onto dishes with the paprika, salt to taste and lemon juice squeezed over.