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I have become quite fascinated with sea urchins lately and have noticed them popping up onto menus at a few Italian restaurants. The rock pools in Rooi Els are full of these spiny creatures, and I have always been tempted to pick one and cut the top off, wash out the odd bits in the sea and slurp back the fishy tongue.
I finally screwed up the courage to try one over the weekend. It was so delicious, no need for a squeeze of lemon or lime. It did make me make me squiggle and squirm a bit, but not as much when it was tossed into homemade linguine, with a touch of garlic, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of parsley. I experienced this soft, sweet seafood explosion at a great new Italian restaurant in Cape Town’s Barrack Street called Il Cappero (also try the Parmesan soufflé with mushroom ragout).
Yesterday I spied sea urchin on the blackboard at Mezzaluna and I couldn’t resist. It was prepared in a very similar way – simple and fresh using the best quality pasta and olive oil. I also chatted to a French chef who shared his favourite way of preparing it, which is much richer, but definitely grabbed my attention. He smothers raw urchins in the shell with hollandaise sauce and pops them under the grill. Sounds delicious! Maybe I’ll paddle out a bit more and pick some to cook myself.
Happy eating!
Abigail
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Thank you so much for posting this information on urchins. I live in J’bay and will be trying it out. Things always taste better when you catch/ collect yourself
Cheers Allan
Very popular delicacy here in Southern Italy. Not sure why it’s not as known in SA cuisine given its diverse seafood loving culture.
Coming to Joburg in october where can i buy fresh sea urchin or any restaurants that sell it on their menu
many thanks
Margaret
Quute interesting, for the last few years it been a thing that I wated to try and cant find them on menus in south africa, guess will have to go urchin picking… Are there certain types of Urchin to look out for and how do you go about your whole process?