I've had scallops with their coral in Australia prepared in different ways. I love the flavor of the coral much more than the muscle itself. My understanding is that the coral is not consumed in the US because it contains a high level of mercury. It is such a shame to see scallop shuckers toss the coral overboard along with the shell. At least the seagulls get to enjoy it.

Interesting. I just had a fantastic scallop dish at a Galician restaurant in Madrid and the sauce clearly had some fish in it in addition to saffron. I had wondered if there was a bit of salt cod in the sauce, but now wonder if they used roe. They were bitty little scallops, and now I can't remember if the roe was attached. I was in sort of a food-induced delirium at the time...

Ive served them a few different ways- But being that they weren't too popular I stopped trying and stayed with what what sold well-which was pan seared. I had them in while in europe a few different ways and that is how I served them. one way is like eating raw oysters where they are served on the half shell raw and detached with the roe membrane carefully sliced open and with a squirt of lemon and topped with parsly. Another way was to do almost the same preperation but add lemon, butter, parlsy and bread crumbs and brown under a broiler. And yet another way was to do a pan seared scallop and build a butter sauce in the pan and add the roe (membrane removed) to the sauce and top scallops with the row and butter sauce. All were great. But, not popular here in the U.S. that I have noticed but a delicacy in Europe. But that was a long time ago and things may have change when I wasn't looking. I hope in some way this helps. Good luck!

Yum! You can cook the roe attached to the scallop in any of the dishes that you'd be making with roe-less scallops. You can also puree the roe with butter and use it in sauces or on its own as a finishing touch. As for how to tell if it's good--scallop roe should be a nice bright red. Toss it if it's gone brownish. You should also use your nose, and only eat it if it smells fresh and briny in a good way, not like it's low tide on the beach.

When I buy live scallops and shuck them at home, finding the roe is a real treat. I cook the roe, still attached, along with the scallops. I have never cooked them separate, but if I did, they are too delicate to get fancy. Simple sauteing in butter would be my choice, being very careful not to over cook.