The way it was at school…

There’s nothing like a bit of a blast from the past.

Prawn Cocktail

It’s been such a long time since I had a Summer holiday, so I was pretty pumped about a short break down the south coast. Bawley Point, just north of Bateman’s Bay, was my family’s Summer holiday destination for many years when I was a child. Filled with lots of great memories, both Charlie and I were excited to go back there.

After a day at the beach and with instructions from the gang to create a seafood feast for dinner, we set off for the fish shop in Ulladulla. Lucky’ Seafood came highly recommended by all the locals and apparently also highly recommended by someone not so local. On the back wall of the shop, was a big thank you note from the master of seafood himself, Rick Stein. Not a bad endorsement when buying our dinner eh?

Unfortunately, as expected, without pre-ordering we couldn’t get a whole lobster, so we had had to go with plan B – the prawn cocktail.

Jamie spices up his prawn cocktail with a pangrattato, which is essentially a fancy way of saying a bread crumb sprinkle – made with bread crumbs, S&P and some oil, pan fried quickly together. With the sauce made from tomato sauce, mayo, a splash of Worcestershire sauce, squeeze of lemon and some S&P, we peeled the prawns and were ready to go.

Jamie serves up the PC on plates, but Charlie wouldn’t have a bar of it – “When we had prawn cocktails at school” he said “they were always served in a glass”. Firstly, he makes a very good point – I’ve never seen a prawn cocktail that wasn’t served in a glass. Secondly, what a fancy school – I certainly never had prawn cocktails when I was at boarding school! And thirdly, if one is going to give orders, perhaps one could help a little in the kitchen! So he did. Finely chopping the lettuce, Charlie neatly popped it in the bottom of each glass. We then fanned the avocado slices around the glass, followed by the prawns, the sauce and lastly sprinkled with the pangrattato.

An absolute classic, it didn’t disappoint. The prawns were fresh and tasty and the bread crumbs added a crunch that really complimented the creamy sauce.

OK, so it’s not lobster as promised, but you have to admit that a prawn cocktail suits a summer holiday at the beach pretty perfectly.

Xx