Turning Leftover Prawn Trims Into Tasty Bar Bites
Aphotic | San Francisco
Turning Leftover Prawn Trims Into Tasty Bar Bites
Aphotic | San Francisco
By Patricia Fitzgerald
July 17, 2024
By Patricia Fitzgerald
July 17, 2024
Peter Hemsley
The Spot Prawn Mortadella featured on the bar menu of seafood-centric Aphotic is a perfect reflection of the concept’s best practices-focused mission. “It was born from that classic kitchen dilemma: How to make use of the trim pieces of an expensive ingredient?” explains Peter Hemsley, executive chef/owner, who found a solution by adding spot prawn trim pieces to pork fat. “The emulsification of the spot prawn with the pork fat creates a sweet and nearly creamy texture and provides an impeccable luxury substitute.”
The prawns dominate in Hemsley’s modern mortadella curation, as he adds small pieces of raw spot prawn, shingled in an arc over slices of the mortadella, along with spot prawn roe for color and added extravagance. The dish gets a bit of heat and pungency from cayenne and cumin and is finished with lime zest and juice, micro cilantro and croutons of toasted brioche. “It’s a seafood rendition with a much fresher take on the centuries-old Italian tradition,” says Hemsley. “It performed well out of the gate, received by guests with curiosity, intrigue and emphatic surprise. We’ll keep it on our fish charcuterie program as long as I can continue to get fresh, wild spot prawns. It’s that good.”
About the Author
Patricia Fitzgerald serves different roles on the Flavor & The Menu team, including writing custom content, Kitchen Collaborative chef spotlights and digital editorial content, as well as acting as a contributing editor for the print magazine. As owner of PFitzCommunications, she specializes in various areas of foodservice and hospitality, while also maintaining clients in other industries and professions. She can be reached at [email protected].
