As I’ve said, the San Francisco Fish Company confounds me – previously frozen shellfish, dull red tuna, pale salmon, but sometimes they have a treat. This time – live scallops in the shell – $7.99/lb.

They were only labeled as “Sea Scallops”, not “Diver Scallops”; I presume they were fished by dragging nets on the sea floor instead of by underwater divers. A side effect of this fishing method is age – they might be less fresh than a diver scallop. However, I’ve also read that scallops need to age a touch (to develop flavor) so this may not be the worst thing.

Stick the knife in, work your way around the side muscles, and the shell opens right up. It’s vile inside – muscle, mucuous membrane, & meat – all in one. An intersting question – Does anyone know of any interesting recipes for the non-meat parts?

Pull away the muscle and membrane, some say don’t wash (I did to remove the grit), and salt on the ends. The salt will dry out the moisture and, theoretically, create a better sear. I also slow-cooked a small basket of morel mushrooms (they are coming into season here.)

The end result

Sweet, not as seared as I’d like, but tasty nonetheless. The morel and scallop pairing (mimicking something I had at Quince the other night, proper review some day) works quite well – earth and sea.

- chuck