The Scallop Boom

 Scallops are having a culinary moment right now.The're in demand with home chefs  cooking them in a variery of ways. They are versatile hence the appeal

Melissa Clark wrote about these sweet and briny little gems in today's New York Times Food section.There are only a handful of scallop farms in American and Canadian waters right now. Even a First Nations TRibe has asmall farm of the Vancouver coast. You can get wild ones too. THeir flavor is not that different from the farmed ones,The best ones come from the Maine coast where the cold deep waters affect the seafood's flavor.It gives them a rich deep saline taste.Yes, you can eat them raw from the shell, which includes the bright orange roe and chewy muscle, the abductor (this can be dried and eaten on it's own) Scallops taste better when the're cooked and ,like lobster, served with melted butter. They become meaty and firm this way.

Ms. Clark does include two recipes.One is with butter, lemon and herbs while the other has them pan roasted with fresh tomatoes. Both are good for a hot weather meal. The first recipe has the scallops pan roasted with butter garlic and thyme are then added for more flavor. Fresh herbs scattered on top finish them. This would be a great dish with slices of crusty French bread to sop up the butter. You could put those freshly picked tomatoes to good use with pan fried scallops in the second recipe.A creamy Vermouth sauce spiked with Worcester sauce is made> Shallots or celery seeds are also added for more zing. Again a crackly loaf of French or even Italian bread wouldn't go amiss here. 

Try scallops if you're looking for something different. Cook them in a plain butter or a fancy Vermouth one. They are a treat no matter how you serve them.