SPAGHETTI CHI RICCI – SPAGHETTI CON RICCI DI MARE (Spaghetti with sea urchins)

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When in Sicily eating Spaghetti With Sea Urchins (Spaghetti chi Ricci) is a must.

They are relatively unknown culturally in Australia and have been next to non-existent commercially.
Sea urchins have a unique taste – they are considered a delicacy by Italians and are popular particularly with the Japanese, French, and Greeks. The gonads of both sexes of sea urchins are referred to as roe (which sounds nicer than testes and ovaries).

They are called ricci in Italy (means curly, the spines of sea urchins are curly at the ends) and when I was a child visiting Sicily, I remember finding sea urchins under rocks on the beach — family and friends wrapped their hands in newspaper and went looking for them at low tide. Most of the time it was very easy to find 4 to 6 sea urchins for each of us to eat raw — the urchins were simply cut in half using a very sharp knife, revealing the yellow-orange roe that was easily removed with a teaspoon and eaten from the spoon with a squeeze of lemon juice.

The next favourite method of eating them was as a dressing for pasta.

In my book, Sicilian Seafood Cooking there is a recipe for this. I had great trouble finding sea urchins to cook (and to be photographed) for my book that was published November 2011.

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At the time I found it surprising that there are about 42 species of sea urchins found in Australian waters and although they can be found in many locations, only a few are good tasting. Most are exported to Japan. The market price for fresh, chilled sea urchin roe varies considerably depending on colour and texture.

The Tasmanian sea urchin fishery is now the largest in Australia and I purchased Tasmanian roe from a specialist sea-food vendor (Ocean Made) who deals mainly with restaurateurs. I found some whole sea urchins at the Preston Market but when I opened them I found them very inferior in quality.

In the photographs (from my book Sicilian Seafood Cooking) you see the work of the photographer Graham Gilles and food stylist Fiona Rigg. I was the cook. The photo of the boats at Mondello  (Sicily, close to Palermo) is by Bob Evans.

Spaghetti are traditionally used for this recipe, but I also like ricci with egg pasta, either fresh or dry  — narrow linguine  — a delicate taste, which in my opinion complement the sweet, fresh taste of the roe.

I ate my best ever pasta with sea urchins in a restaurant in Mondello (close to Palermo) and I am sure that this included lemon – grated peel and juice so I have included these in the recipe.

And one last thing — the sea urchins are not cooked and are mixed with the hot pasta at the time of serving. The aroma is indescribable. Bottarga is sometimes grated on top of the pasta and anchovies are commonly added to the sauce to accentuate the taste, but this is optional.

For 6 people

spaghetti, 500g. If I am using fresh pasta, I use 600g
sea urchins, 3-8 per person
garlic, 4-5 cloves, chopped finely
extra virgin olive oil, ¾ cup
salt and freshly ground black pepper or chili flakes
parsley, ¾ cup cut finely
anchovies, 3 cut finely (optional)
1-2 red fresh chilies cut finely

finely grated lemon peel of 1 lemon, and the juice

½ cup of your best quality, extra virgin olive oil to drizzle on top of the pasta at the end.
If you have purchased whole sea urchins, using a short and very sharp knife or scissors cut into the shell and enter the riccio di mare via the mouth (you will see the opening).
Split the sea urchins in half and remove the soft urchin flesh using a spoon. Place the roes into a bowl and discard all the rest. Break up the sea urchins into smaller pieces – they are soft so use a spoon.
Cook the pasta and while the pasta is cooking prepare the sauce.
Heat the ¾ cup of olive oil, add the garlic and over slow heat cook the garlic slowly until it becomes translucent.
Add chili and anchovies – the anchovies will dissolve in the hot oil.
Add this mixture of oil to the hot just drained pasta at the same time as the sea urchins and toss quickly to coat.
Add the parsley, lemon peel and the juice. Toss well to combine. Serve immediately and top each portion with a drizzle of your best olive oil – this is best done at the table.
Finally there has been some interest in eating Sea Urchins:
Date with plates sends chills down urchins spine:
Sea urchins, sometimes called sea hedgehogs, are the black, spiky creatures that lurk at the bottom of the ocean.
They prey on the kelp beds that are a vital habitat for the rock lobsters and abalone of the north-east coast of Tasmania and are considered one of the state’s worst marine pests. But have you ever thought of eating them?

Diver and seafood exporter Dave Allen has helped pioneer the sea urchin export industry in Australia and, in the process, has set about saving the reefs from being stripped bare by these pests.
Laura Banks. From Sunday Age, March 2, 2014.

I was pleased to see that sea urchins will be featured in a dinner called The Delicious Pest at The Melbourne Food & Wine Festival on March 9, 2014.

Sea Urchin Roe is seasonal and as mentioned above, it is available from (Ocean Made), fresh  and frozen when it is not in season.

Roe is also available from David Stringer at Kina, Sea Urchins Australia:

We deliver all over Melbourne and Australia wide. We use air freight and provide the freshest sea urchin roe available across the country. All our processing is done with the highest degree of care in order to make our product the best and we pride ourselves on excellent customer service and quality of product. Last year we won a Victorian seafood of the year award for best customer service and quality of product.
We have a minimum order of 20 X 100gram or 150 gram punnets.
If that seems too much then you could suggest our products to friends to see if they would like to be included in the order. Please also note that when we have further shops open in Victoria then we will list them on our website. Customers can also sign up to our newsletter and stay informed of seasonal conditions, new products or anything regarding sea urchins.
Our new prices for 2015 are being implemented as we speak.
Welcome to Sea Urchins Australia.

 

 

MARISA RANIOLO WILKINS and SICILIAN SEAFOOD COOKING, Media Coverage

MARISA RANIOLO WILKINS  and  SICILIAN SEAFOOD COOKING (New Holland Publication). 

Media coverage

Radio: Sicilian Seafood Cooking, 20011

Prime Radio Network w Laurie Atlas Nov 2
Radio 3AW/1593am w Tony Tardio Nov 4
Rete Italia Radio w Pino and Lina (Ivano Ercole) Nov 4
Joy FM ‘Cravings’ with Pete Dillon Nov 5
Radio MTR 1377 w Steve Vizard Major MetroNov 7
Radio Adelaide 101.5 w Bruce Guerin “Gastronaut’ Nov 23
ABC Adelaide w Carole Whitelock Major metro Nov 25
5AA Adelaide with Michael Keelan, Nov 27
ABC South East with Alan Richardson Nov 29
GB Sydney with Warren Moore Jan 2,
5MU Power Fm Adelaide Jan 30,
 Marisa & Richard

Printed media

Italianicious – January 2012 Fuelled by Passion
Italianicious – November- December 2010, For the Love of Sicily
Seafood News launch of Sicilian Seafood Cooking
Canberra Times, Sunday 13/11/2011
Leader newspapers: Wyndham Weekly, Northern Weekly, Banyule and Nillumbic Weekly, Northern Weekly, North Side
West Australian: Broadbrush 22/12/11
Adelaide Review, February 2012
Fishing Lines, Magazine of Victoria’s Peak Recreational Fishing Body
Autumn 2012 Catching Squid and stuffing it
Winter 2012 Fish balls in sauce
Border Mail (Albury Wodonga)
ISSUU magazine Feb 2, 2012
Readers Feast, Book guide, Summer 2011 (Helen’s choice)

Epicure,The Age, July 2012

Richard launches book adj

Online

wine, food, hotel Sicilian Seafood Cooking review
Weekend Notes Sicilian Seafood Cooking launch
PS News Seafood Feast
Epicure, The Age

Commendations

All Things Sicilian and More, Local expert blog award
Various recipes and articles published in  – TSSA’s newsletter (The Sicilian Association of Australia)
U-tube
ABC Food Sardines a Beccafico, stuffed with currants and pinenuts , Video/ Recipe cooked by Sean Connelly: http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/11731011790/Sardines-a-beccaficoSBS Food Eggplant or Zucchini Parmigiana
Richard, Fiona & Marisa at launch
 Richard Cornish launched the book and Fiona Rigg (in the centre) was the food stylist for Sicilian Seafood Cooking.

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SICILIAN COOKBOOK: Sicilian Seafood Cooking, photography and food styling

Fish+couscous

The book will feature recipes for fish (primi and secondi) and vegetables and will be called Sicilian Seafood Cookbook.  The photography is by Graeme Gillies and food styling by Fiona Rigg, but the book will also have photos that were shot in Sicily over my many travels.

There were approximately 70 dishes, cooked and photographed in 4.5 days. We were busy and the photographer and food stylist did an amazing job, as did the team of volunteer friends who were kitchen hands.

 Fiona dresses cauliflower dish for Graeme to shoot

The kitchen and dining room of my apartment was completely taken over by ingredients, implements, cutlery, crockery and decorative props for the week. Most of the furniture was shipped out and stored with friends and neighbours – so many people pitched in to help.

I source most of my ingredients from my favourite and ever-reliable suppliers in the Queen Victoria Market. But I also travelled to the Preston and Kingston Markets for some of the more exotic things such as sea urchins (ricci) – these unfortunately were suitable for the props only and were not very edible.

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I found Coorong mullets, urchin roe, wild/line caught species of fish (sustainable) from a couple of specialist, restaurant fish suppliers.  I ended up buying about ten cuttlefish to extract the ink and ended up finally finding a live eel in an Asian food market in Adelaide.

 Room set for pix

Fishing the eel out of the tank was extremely dramatic. Several eels made a bid of freedom, slithering along the market floor, as the person serving me, tried his best to get to grips with one of these slippery creatures.  Finally, after much wriggling and squirming, he succeeded. The vendor was ready to give me a live eel in a plastic bag until I told him that I had to fly back to Melbourne with it. I left the shop with a very fresh eel, which I only had to skin. But that is another story.

Eel- top two pieces are the skin

And in those four days that the photo shoot took place, we all worked extremely hard.

Thanks Graeme , Fiona and the friends who come to help.