sea food experiments continue

For a while now I have been seeing sea urchins (fr: oursins) at the market and wondered how would one prepare and eat them. I asked Catherine about them one day and she explained that no preparation was necessary; you just cut them open, scoop out the bright orange pulp and voila. She also used a number of superlatives to describe how wonderfully they taste.  Emilia overheard it and being the foodie that she is insisted that we buy them. Anne was visiting that week and that made for a good occasion to try them.

I should have been suspicious that while they were no longer available at my favourite fish monger at the market they were still lying on ice in the fish store on our street. I would not use any of the adjectives that Catherine used to describe them. They tasted very, very strong and not at all sweet and buttery as the internet described them. Though we did not get sick, later I read that when not fresh sea urchins can taste vile. Surprisingly Emilia took quite the liking to them! go figure!