Instructions
I have come to the conclusion that scallops are the Muppets of the Sea. Indulging my fascination with Tasmanian scallops recently on a scuba trip to Spring Bay on Tassie’s east coast, I finally came to realise that these underwater marionettes don’t bed down at all, but roam freely around the sea bed. I’d never really thought about it, I guess.
Scallops move by opening and closing their two ribbed shells. The bottom shell is flat, while the top shell is hemispherical. The result looks like a lost gap-toothed puppet mouth silently chattering in the watery depths. I accidentally interrupted a school of scallops at about 30 metres down who immediately took off together, like a choir of misplaced toys chiding me in unison for disturbing their peace.
Actually, scallops are a bivalve mollusc. They are filter feeders who extract nutrient from the passing sediment. As such they are very sensitive to pollution, so much so that you can gauge the cleanliness of a marine environment by the number of scallops you find there. No surprises then that Australia’s southern waters are amongst the most plentiful scallop beds in the world.
A large proportion of the scallops sold in Australia are frozen, imported and without their shells. This is a great shame in so many ways.
Firstly it’s like the French drinking Chilean champagne, or the Canadians eating German maple syrup. If you make the best in the world where you live, why would you use anything else?
Secondly, from a chef’s perspective, there is nothing more fragrant, tasty or beautiful than a perfectly formed half-shell scallop. What’s more, it’s a food that comes with built-in presentation!
But most of all, because we live in Australia we can appreciate the seasonal freshness of our world-famous shellfish. And right now is the perfect time to be eating the scallops that the rest of the world craves: ours!!
Steamed Tasmanian scallops with miso and seaweed salad