If there is one dish that defines the trajectory of British food, then it is the prawn cocktail. Attributed to Fanny Cradock in the 1960s (perhaps lazily, as some say it has its genesis in the food preferences of a 19th Century Californian mine worker), prawn cocktail enjoyed a brief period as a beacon of high living, ‘going out’ and ‘having friends over.’ The key to the success of the prawn cocktail is that it tastes very nice, but is also stupefyingly easy to make.
And therein lay its doom.
Once you have something this good that can be made in advance, and whipped up to serve in seconds, good restaurants will get hold of it … and then the less good restaurants. From there, it will trickle down and find itself in the hands of pub chefs who do not give a shit about what their customers are eating. This is where we end up with tiny, tasteless frozen prawns, lank lettuce, and watery sauces lacking in seasoning. This is where British food gets its bad rap from, and yet it is the same chefs to complain today about lack of footfall across their thresholds and onto their sticky, red-patterned carpets.
We have posted a traditional, simple prawn cocktail before. This one given here is an entirely different animal. From the hand of Gary Rhodes, this combines three sauces and a good hour or more of prep to make a stunning prawn cocktail that anyone would be proud to serve as a starter.
Prawn cocktail Gary Rhodes
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Loading...Ingredients
- For the rouille sauce:
- 400g tin of red peppers
- 2 slices of white bread, crusts removed
- All red pepper trimmings (see salad ingredients and recipe)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 red chilli, very finely sliced, and seeds removed
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- Sea salt
- For the Marie Rose sauce:
- 10 tbsp (150ml) mayonnaise
- 3–4 tbsp (30–40ml) tomato ketchup
- Squeeze of lemon juice
- Splash of brandy
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the lemon dressing
- Juice of half a lemon
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the salad:
- 8 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lemon, quartered
- 4 large red peppers
- 500–600g shelled, cooked prawns – dice 4–6 tails, and leave the rest whole
- 1 iceberg lettuce, finely shredded
- 12 tbsp Marie Rose Sauce (see above)
- 8 tbsp rouille sauce (see above)
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
To prepare the peppers:
Rub the peppers with a little olive oil and grill (turning) until blackened all around. Cool and remove skin. Cut the pepper open into a strip and stamp out 12 rings. Keep the flesh trimmings for the rouille (discard stalk and seeds).
To make the rouille sauce:
Soak the bread in water for 15 mins. Drain and squeeze out excess water,
Blitz all the ingredients except the oil. With the mixer running, gradually add the oil to maintain an emulsion. Season. Pass (push) though a sieve.
To make the Marie Rose sauce:
Whisk together all the ingredients. Adjust seasoning to taste.
To make the lemon dressing:
Whisk the ingredients together and season.
To make the salad:
Combine the chopped prawns, lettuce, and some of the Marie Rose sauce. Season and add lemon juice to taste.
To assemble:
In a mould ring, layer two rounds of seasoned pepper as a ‘sandwich’ with a prawn salad filling. Pack gently with the bottom of a bottle or small jar. Add three or four whole prawns and remove the ring. Spoon over some more Marie Rose sauce if liked. Repeat for all the other cocktails. Drizzle all the cocktails around with the three sauces (rouille, Marie Rose, and lemon dressing).
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