Читать книгу Kitchen Memories - Lucy Boyd - Страница 55

1 very fresh best-quality large egg yolk

200–250ml extra-virgin olive oil

2 lemons

24 fat live langoustines, kept in the bottom of the fridge, covered with some damp newspaper until you are ready to cook

100g purslane or lamb’s lettuce

1 handful of fresh sweet marjoram leaves and buds picked from their stems, washed and dried

salt and black pepper

To make the mayonnaise, put the egg yolk in a pestle and mortar (see here) or mixer, then very slowly start adding the olive oil, drop by drop at first, stirring all the time until the mixture is thick, sticky and gloopy. (If it is thin and the oil has separated from the egg, it means it has split, in which case start again by putting another yolk into the bowl and then adding, drop by drop, the split mixture.) As the mixture starts to thicken, about 10 minutes, add a small squeeze of lemon juice to loosen it a bit, then continue to add the oil a little at a time, checking the mixture has not separated. When all the oil has been used, taste and add more lemon juice if required – the juice of a whole lemon should be enough. Season with salt and pepper and keep cool.

Plunge the langoustines into a pan of boiling, salted water and poach for 3 minutes, then remove, or drain, and leave to cool for a few minutes.

Put the purslane or lamb’s lettuce in a bowl and squeeze the juice of half a lemon over with a little extra-virgin olive oil and some salt and pepper.

Place each langoustine, belly-side up, on a chopping board. Using a sharp knife, slice the langoustine in half lengthways and remove the flesh. Distribute on the plates, gently scatter the dressed leaves here and there – but not too many as to overwhelm the flavour of the shellfish, then lightly spoon trailing pools of the mayonnaise over.

Very crudely chop the marjoram – just one or two chops will be fine – and scatter it over the top.