Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Hedgehog Sea Urchin

Hedgehog sea urchins live on the seabed of the Adriatic coastline in great abundance. Locally they are considered a great delicacy. They are easy to catch. All you need is a diving mask with a tube. Dive down to the sea floor and gather as many as you can into your net bag.
The one in the photo above is still alive (it didn't want to sit still for the picture!) and they are eaten while alive, with the top half containing the "eye" cut off (so it can't see what you are doing to it?).

This plateful is ready to be eaten. You either just lick the insides out or, if you're feeling slightly more refined, you scoop them out with a small piece of bread.

7 comments:

Hilda said...

Eep. I've never been brave enough to eat sea urchin, whether scooped on a sushi or on the shell. My husband loves the sushi and my cousins eat them straight from getting them from the sea — not in Manila, in another province.

Homebody at Heart said...

Ugh! I'm not a very brave diner and have never developed much of an appetite for raw seafood or anything that might remotely taste of "fishiness" like the eggs or the digestive portions of molluscs. But, it is a beautiful photograph!

Ann said...

I like sushi but I'm not sure about eating them while they are still alive. I prefer my food quite dead first.

Saretta said...

I agree with all of you wholeheartedly! No live food, thanks! In fact, I avoid mollusks dead or alive. But this stuff is considered a real delicacy around here. People are flabbergasted that I won't eat any!

Knoxville Girl said...

well now, that's a feature not a problem - more for them, then.

vero said...

Gnam gnam.... very good!

Anonymous said...

Today I went to the Costa Brava in Spain with my husbands family and they gathered some to make later on that evening. I am an American living here in in Spain with my Catalan husband, and I must say they are very good. We didn´t eat them alive, but his brother cooked them and blended them making a creamy smooth sauce. IT WAS SO GOOD! In reality they tasted sweet, like lobster!!!!