Larder House Seafood night

This was a Wednesday night, a “school night”, and it was a busy week as on Friday I’d be back at the Larder House for their pig butchery night.

Given it wasn’t cheap, I allowed myself a cup-a-soup at work for lunch in readiness for the night’s feasting.

We were sat out in the courtyard, with about 20 of us joining in. Now with the huge glass doors in place, it means it is a lot more comfortable as the heating lamps have a fighting chance of keeping us warm as opposed to a the smallest of breezes taking it all away.

James set up the display of the night’s lovely goodies. I come from a seafood family so this was just wonderful. All set out for us to see there were large brown crabs, lobster, langoustine, oysters, razor clams, scallops and mussels. A touch of samphire and lemons to complete the display and we are ready.

After James announced the start of the evening, Chef explained where the produce had come from, how to clean and prepare them, what the “coral” is and how it can be used. We are talking about the green stuff behind the lobster’s head here!

A few people got up and had a go at opening oysters with a knife. Luckily I have a small wooden device that keeps the oyster in place and a blunt stubby knife to get inside the joint and prise it open. I didn’t want to be brandishing a pointy knife and just holding the oyster down by hand, especially after a glass or two of wine. Some people did and they survived injury free.

These evenings are great as it is very personal and people can ask questions and get involved doing things.

Chef then explained the night’s menu and how it would all be prepared.

The starter was made up of Citrus seared scallop, Iced rock oyster with a shallot chilli & coriander dressing, Razor clam and Moules marinere. A bit of everything with their own taste and textures. The scallop was huge and sweet, the oyster had a nice fresh zing to it. There were some people that had never had raw oyster before and they were willing to give it a go.

I love samphire as well and was pleased that it got used as part of cooking the mussels. I like stir frying it with pork or beef as it adds saltiness to the dish without extra seasoning and a slight crunch.

For the main event it was a whole brown crab, langoustine perched on top and lobster. What more could you ask for? If it hadn’t been a mid-week night with people wanting to go home for work the next day, I would have been there for another hour or two picking out the crab meat from the body. They would have just turned the lights off and left me in the courtyard.