Sunday, October 4, 2009 The scallop experiment

Scallops...oh so small, so white, so elusive...i have heard so much about it...that it is sweet and very delicate. I have tasted it before but it never left an impression. It is one of those simple ingredients that characterizes Italian cooking- simple ingredients cooked well can create a great dish. This is the principle that I wanted to test in this experiment. I know that scallops have a sweetness in its taste and that was an important consideration in this experiment. I also read that scallops when exposed to too much heat can lose its distinct texture...I also had to keep that in mind during the experiment. In this experiment I made scallops in four ways; i. Plain Pan seared Scallops with tomato butter sauce, ii. Scallops with water and flour batter, iii. Scallops sauteed with bacon, ham and onion sofritto, and iv. Baked Scallops and shrimp bacon bundle.

These 4 dishes allowed me to explore the range of flavor and texture that can be achieved with scallops. The variety of texture and flavor achieved by these dishes are as follows; soft and sweet (plain pan seared), crusted and sweet (Scallops with water and flour batter), tender and flavor full (sauteed in ham and bacon) and soft and flavor full (Baked Scallops and shrimp bacon bundle).

The first method was fairly simple, the key to achieving the desired effect was to know when the right time was to put the scallops in the pan. The pan should be hot enough to cook the side of the scallop that touches the pan quickly, once one side is cooked (color turned a pale gold) turn it over and cook the other side. The scallop should have a top and bottom layer discolored to a pale gold and the middle part should be white. Cooking it this way allows you to trap the sweetness inside the meat.

The second method was also fairly simple, the key to achieving the desired effect was again to know when to put the scallops in the pan. While inside the pan toss the scallops to make sure no one side of it is exposed too long to the heat. Take the scallops out once you see it turning golden.

The third method is the most savory, it is also easy to make but takes a little more time than the others. The key is knowing when your sofritto of onion, ham and bacon is ready for your scallops. Do not allow your onions to lose too much of its color before adding the bacon and ham and do not allow your ham and bacon to be crispy at all. Only add the scallops when your onion, bacon and ham have bonded their flavor together. When tossing the scallops into your sofritto, turn the heat to low and make sure that each scallop is coated well with your sofritto components. Once each scallop is properly coated cover the pan and keep it covered for 2 minutes. The end result is scallop that is tender due to the mount of time it was exposed to heat but the meat is relaly savoury and full of flavor from the sofritto.

The fourth method also creates a savoury scallop but unlike the third method the scallop from this one is soft. Wrapping the scallop with bacon allows the scallop to absorb the fat from the bacon adding strength to the scallops sweetnes. The best thing about this method is the texture of the dish...the softness of the scallop, the brittle edges of the bacon, and the nut like texture of the garlic.

I learned a lot of things today about scallops but the most important thing I learned is the fact that this very unassuming and simple ingredient can creat so many joys in the kitchen. Scallops can also be used in many ways as appetizer or main dish. It is one of those ingredients that allows you to be very creative and adventurous.