Queenies are a blast from the past for Mark Hix, who recommends baking them in herbs
When I was at primary school my mate Mark Hawker’s dad had a fishing boat, and from it I would watch the local ships come in piled high with sacks of queen scallops fished from the reefs.
Sadly, over-trawling put an end to all that, and you rarely see them fished in Lyme bay any more. This is also due to the work involved in cleaning them; they’re medium-sized but they take the same amount of time to prepare and clean as a large scallop
My fondest school memory was when Mark’s mum would pack us little polystyrene cups of queen scallops in vinegar for our school break treat. Thinking back on it now, it was a tad eccentric – we were the only kids in the country eating freshly caught queenies in the school playground.
Years later, I was invited to the Isle of Man by Tim Croft, a sustainable shellfish procurer, to attend the queen scallop festival, where I cooked and sold queen scallops off a barbecue. Tim still supplies me with queenies and even sends them in the half shell which saves us a lot of time.
When they arrive, they’re fresh enough to serve raw with a ponzu dressing or finely diced cucumber, chilli and lime juice. After the first day we bake them with breadcrumbs and herbs like in the recipe below. They’re also great on a plate of roasted mixed shellfish with lobster, prawns and razor clams.
Herb-baked Queenies
SERVES 4
Ingredients
• 20-24 queen scallops, opened, cleaned and left on the half-shell, or around 500g shelled
For the parsley crust:
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
• 45g butter
• 10g parsley (flat or curly, but flat tastes better) with the stalks removed, washed and finely chopped
• 40g fresh white breadcrumbs
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the garlic butter:
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 125g butter
Method
• To make the parsley crust, melt the butter in a pan and gently cook the garlic for a minute. Stir in the parsley and breadcrumbs and season with salt and pepper
• Preheat a grill to maximum temperature. Lay the scallops on a grill tray, scatter with the parsley crust and cook under a hot grill for 3 or 4 minutes until lightly coloured