The Conversation
Angie: Looking forward to photographing Arctic shrimp! I never knew there was a difference. Shall we have a bunch of people over for dinner after?
Side note: we were planning a photo shoot and the images were taken by us for Arctic Cold Water Seafood (ACWS) who sells their Arctic seafood primarily business to business.
Karin: That’s a great idea! Let’s call it “Shrimp Fest”, after all, we’ll need to eat the “talent” from our photoshoot so they don’t get wasted.
Angie: What do you serve at a dinner party with Arctic shrimp? They’re different to warm water shrimp and I don’t usually cook seafood at home. I was surprised by the difference in flavour. The flesh seems sweeter and the texture is a lot chewier and more robust. I also didn’t realise there are a few different kinds of cold water shrimp!
Karin: We usually eat them plain with aioli, dill, lemon wedges, and bread.
Angie: Is that all? That doesn’t sound like a meal… it sounds like a snack? What else can we serve at shrimp fest? There’s got to be more. I can’t have people over and just serve them bread and shrimp!
Karin: Ha ha. Of course you can! And we don’t need anything else but I can see you’re stressing about it so we could also do a salad (perhaps with fennel). If you really must make more, a cheese pie goes well too.
Angie: What is a cheese pie?
Karin: I have an amazing recipe from my mother-in-law. (Seen on the far right in the picture above.)
Angie: I have never eaten like this or entertained like this. It just seems strange but I’m going to treat it as a cultural experience and go with it. I’m imagining a big table piled with seafood, seeing as we’ve got so much to shoot. Do you cook the shrimp?
Karin: Oh no! They can just be defrosted and eaten. Such an easy meal so you don’t have to worry at all. We just peel and eat! The Arctic shrimp are boiled immediately on the ship directly after they are harvested from those cold, cold waters. They are super fresh and delicious! There is one type that is raw and full of delicious black roe (shrimp eggs). These you eat like sashimi. (Raw shimp can be seen below on the left, center plate.)
Angie: Ok I’m going to go with it. It sounds a bit strange… I wonder if my guests would mind if I assembled my flat lay hoist and took photos! Hahahahaha! Just joking… or would it be ok? 😉
Karin: I think it would be fun! …oh you can also serve sliced avocado and boiled eggs.
Angie: Seriously. That sounds bizarre…
Above is an example of one of the ways you can eat the shrimp – toast with egg and shrimp. Squeeze a little lemon over and top with fresh dill.
How did our dinner party go? See for yourself…
We emptied the plates and had a wondeful time chatting and peeling shrimp. Thank you to our dinner guest for letting us photograph the evening.
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Karin van Vliet is the founder of Table Tales, a yearly lifestyle publication with a curated selection of restaurants and brand partners, all of whom give you premium benefits. She explores the culinary side of Singapore and brings them to you through Table Tales.
Karin van Vliet from Table Tales and Angela Manners of Vanilla Beige meet frequently to discuss various topics.
