Potted Shrimps for Tea.

October 6, 2008 7:14 AM

How do you eat Potted Shrimp? Hot or Cold?

I brought some today (already potted) and don't know how to eat them. The recipes for cooking them from scratch all talk about chilling them in the fridge, but it seems a bit weird to eat them cold as there is a layer of cold butter on top. I want to eat them on toast rather than putting them in a sauce. Do you reheat them, mash them up or just put them on hot toast so the butter melts by itself?

posted by tallus to food & drink (5 comments total)

I don't think they're supposed to be eaten chilled - the butter's the preservative, so it makes sense to keep them at room temperature. They'd be fine on hot toast that way, used like a spread.

Or you could warm them up in a bain-marie. Either way. Just not cold. Eat the whole jar in one go so you don't need to refrigerate any leftovers.
posted by peachfuzz at 8:03 AM on October 6

Spread it on toast however, and the cold butter stops being quite so cold. That's how I'm acquainted with them (as a Brit), is to use them like a pate.
posted by opsin at 9:04 AM on October 6

Ah, sorry, missed the last sentence, which nailed it.
posted by opsin at 9:05 AM on October 6

I've never had them reheated, and I've had them served in a few restaurants. Best served on hot brown toast with a lemon to squeeze over. The hot toast should slightly melt the butter, and as opsin says, render it of similar consistency to a pate.
posted by Mattat at 9:06 AM on October 6

I just eat them for my tea. They were delicious. The spreading them on hot toast method worked great. Thanks.
posted by tallus at 11:09 AM on October 6