Crayfish Ritz
This is a take on the classic avocado ritz with the addition of crayfish. For an impressive presentation, serve in the crayfish shells. Do make your own mayonnaise — it makes all the difference. Serve with Maldon salt with edible gold flecks to take it to another level (available to order from nicoletta.co.za).
Serves 10
5 live crayfish
400g shrimps, cooked, peeled
and deveined
1/2 cup basic mayonnaise
1/4 cup All Gold tomato sauce
juice of 2 limes
100g spring onion
3 ripe avocados,
chopped (optional)
fresh limes, to serve
Maldon salt, to serve
gold flecks (optional)
Basic mayonnaise
1 egg
2T lemon juice
1t garlic, grated or
finely chopped
1t Dijon mustard
1 cup sunflower oil
sea salt, to taste
To make the mayonnaise, place all the ingredients except for the oil in a food processor. Blend until combined then, with the motor running, slowly add the oil, one drop at a time, until the mayonnaise starts to thicken. Season and set aside.
The most humane way to cook crayfish is to first place them in the freezer, which slowly puts them to sleep. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to the boil (sea water is best, but of course this is not always practical) and add the crayfish. Cook until crimson, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pot and place in ice water to stop the cooking process. When cool enough to handle, cut each crayfish in half, remove the vein and carefully remove the flesh and chop into chunks. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, mix together the cooked shrimps, crayfish, mayonnaise, tomato sauce, spring onion, avocado (if using) and lime juice.
To serve, fill each crayfish half with the crayfish mix. Mix together the Maldon salt and gold flecks and place in salt dishes on the table. Serve with fresh limes.
