There's a restaurant in New Orleans called Pascal Manale's that is famous for their "Barbecue Shrimp," which isn't barbecued at all; it's shrimp poached in butter with tons of seasonings. I remember (and my mother confirmed this) going there for lunch on Yom Kippur after morning services. (For those of you who are not Jewish, Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, is a fasting day. We won't even discuss the shrimp.) My father LOVES Barbecue Shrimp, so my mother invented a recipe for it. It calls for whole shrimp (including the heads--my father likes to suck the heads) served in bowls with lots of bread for dunking. After my mother told me the recipe, I told her my (much lighter but equally delicious) version, and she said that peeling the shrimp is half the fun, and anyone who doesn't want to peel hot buttery shrimp is "chicken." Also hilarious to me: her recipe calls for a POUND of butter and 2 POUNDS of margarine (because she is under the impression that margarine is HEALTHIER than butter!!) and NO salt (because, you know, my father is a heart patient and salt just isn't good for him). My mother and I have a great relationship, and the conversation I had with her about this had us both laughing hysterically--especially when my father was calling out tips from the next room: "Use lots of black pepper!" and "Don't overcook the shrimp!" While I can’t get behind the margarine or the no salt rule, my dad is right about the black pepper and not overcooking the shrimp. —drbabs
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