# Prawns with aniseed liqueur... surprisingly this works great



## siloway (Mar 24, 2011)

When I was living in Lyon, France a friend of mine took me to "Les Halles" which is basically one of Lyons several renound gastranomical centres...anyway won't bore you with more details but I first tasted prawns with aniseed liqueur there and they are amazing, recreated the recipe at home, dead simple.

A good handfull of prawns
A good piece of butter say 20-30g
Pastis - ricard or any other spirit that is minimum 40° proof as it needs to be flambéed
Couple of tablespoons of chopped parsley
2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
Pepper
Salt
Throw the butter in a frying pan, when it heats up, toss in the garlic and caramelise a little.

Take the shells and intestines off the prawns and throw them in. Fry them over a medium heat until they cooked and very slighly browned.

Now throw in a cap or two of the aniseed liqueur, wait 5 seconds for it to heat, stand back and light it. Once it goes out, let the sauce caramelise a bit.

Put the prawns on a plate, coat with the cooking juices, thow some chopped parsley over it and enjoy.

I usually hate aniseed, this is the only way I have ever tolerated the stuff but man it's nice like that!

Enjoy.

More along the same lines on http://www.visualfragrance.com


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

Whilst I adore lots of French recipes, the idea of prawns (or langoustines) with Ricard doesn't really float my boat!

I believe you're Cornish - that's like a Cornish pasty with Tinner's Ale poured over it! 

(I visit Cornwall at least twice a year, the Roseland area!)


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## siloway (Mar 24, 2011)

Ishbel said:


> Whilst I adore lots of French recipes, the idea of prawns (or langoustines) with Ricard doesn't really float my boat!
> 
> I believe you're Cornish - that's like a Cornish pasty with Tinner's Ale poured over it!
> 
> (I visit Cornwall at least twice a year, the Roseland area!)


Lol, Actually I'm French, been in Cornwall for 4 years now, Cornish summer is my favorite day of the year /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif.

Surprisingly once you've finished caramelising the ingredients the aniseed flavour ends up being very subtle, a little like using dill with fish really... they are actually doing a beef and ale pasty now in padstow, you should try it next time you come down, it's yum, tastes like beef and ale stew in a bun /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smiles.gif


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

Four years?

You've got another 30 years before they think of you as a Cornishman!

Is that pasty an invention of Mr Stein???????  I think I'll pass - give me a good, home-made Cornish pasty, but a Cornish woman - lots of swede with the potatoes and beef, lots of salt and pepper and a pastry made with lard.  Manna from heaven!


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## siloway (Mar 24, 2011)

Ishbel said:


> Four years?
> 
> You've got another 30 years before they think of you as a Cornishman!
> 
> Is that pasty an invention of Mr Stein??????? I think I'll pass - give me a good, home-made Cornish pasty, but a Cornish woman - lots of swede with the potatoes and beef, lots of salt and pepper and a pastry made with lard. Manna from heaven!


They only call you cornish if you've been here for 8 generations or more and at least 3 of those generations married their sisters /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif.

Lol, I'll stick with the prawns in summer and the pasty for winter.


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

[*]Quote Siloway; ...A good handfull of prawns... throw in a cap or two of the aniseed liqueur [*] [*]Pastis and seefood has always been a wonderful combination. It's frequently used in fishsoups. If you ask me, a fishsoup without a bit of pastis or raki or ouzo is missing something.[*]Please allow me to say that your proportions aren't quite right. I would say 1/2 tbsp maximum for that quantity of prawns may already be too much for most people. Pastis is extremely overpowering.[*]Maybe a few drops would be more like it?[*]For people who don't know pastis, I wouldn't call it a liqueur as there is no sugar in it.[*]


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## siloway (Mar 24, 2011)

ChrisBelgium said:


> Quote Siloway; ...A good handfull of prawns... throw in a cap or two of the aniseed liqueur
> 
> Pastis and seefood has always been a wonderful combination. It's frequently used in fishsoups. If you ask me, a fishsoup without a bit of pastis or raki or ouzo is missing something.
> Please allow me to say that your proportions aren't quite right. I would say 1/2 tbsp maximum for that quantity of prawns may already be too much for most people. Pastis is extremely overpowering.
> ...


yeah you're probably right about the quantities, just basic rough recipe...adapt as you wish, agreed pastis is more lique a spirit than a liqueur, the pastis does lose a faire bit of it's punch when it carmelises however ... potato pottato /img/vbsmilies/smilies/talker.gif.


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

Pastis is indeed a spirit and I love it. If people on this forum throw Marie Brizard in, you're on your own, lol.


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