There can be no doubt that restaurant shrimp cocktails are never big enough. Oh, the individual shrimp may be sizeable, but though they be proud they are also the few. Which is why I was compelled last weekend to create a shrimp cocktail big enough to have its own zip code.
Nancy Leson agrees that size matters, but her idea of what constitutes the crustaceanaceous concoction left me shocked – simply shocked.
I had always thought there was very little room for difference of opinion about them: Largish cold cooked shrimp atop shredded leaves of choice with copious cocktail sauce. Lemon wedge and oyster crackers on the side. But nooooo...
Dear reader, what Nancy Leson terms a shrimp cocktail is pictured on the lower left of that Old Bay can. Steamed shrimp. Eaten warm. And brace yourself – no cocktail sauce!
"In my house we're not big on cocktail sauce. We're just not. We think it's wasteful and you can't even taste the shrimp..." At that point I had to leave the room.
But I came back to share my recipe for cocktail sauce. Heinz Chili sauce, minced celery and parsley, lemon juice, a few drops of hot sauce, and too much horseradish.
Or you could try this fancier, slightly hotter Remoulade recipe from Emeril Lagasse.
And when the shrimp are gone, crunch up those crackers in the leftover sauce. In fact if you're too strapped to buy shrimp, try a shrimpless cocktail. Just the sauce and crackers. Nancy scoffs, but it's good, I swear!
Well, at least we agree that shrimp cocktails, no matter how configured, should be large. After all...
"Quantity has a quality all its own."
– V.I. Lenin
