While my husband and I were living in Naples, we took a weekend trip to the Gargano region on the eastern coast. There, at a restaurant perched on a bluff teetering over the Adriatic, I tasted sea urchin, I mean really tasted it. Caught the same day, the orange gemlike morsels of roe were still glistening in their thorny half shells. I have struggled with shucking oysters enough to know that if someone handed me a bag of freshly caught sea urchin, he would also be dialing 911 shortly thereafter.
But when I came across an episode of Rick Stein's show featuring a spaghetti dish comprising sea urchin roe, olive oil and garlic, I was determined to find good quality roe so I could make the recipe. Thankfully I live in New York City, and a lovely Japanese market in the East Village had some cleaned and packaged, and fresh smelling urchin. No need to handle the prickly suckers myself.
This pasta dish tastes truly of the sea. The urchin, melted in the garlicky olive oil, sticks lovingly to the tendrils of spaghetti, all the while retaining its briny essence. With every bite, I miss Italy a little more. —GSmodden
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