Crevettes Pamplemousse Salad - Eating Shrimps in France

One odd thing here is that you cannot find raw shrimps for sale at supermarkets. I found that out when my niece and I were talking one afternoon and she shared that shrimps were eaten raw here. I looked at her with my mouth open, surprised that they would eat raw shrimps. I mean, isn't raw shrimps icky, sticky, and slimy?! I asked her twice, you eat raw shrimps??? I don't think I could do that! But she was wrong. You see, she grew up thinking that the shrimps they would buy at the supermarkets were raw like the meat and poultry, but actually these are already preboiled or steamed before being put out for sale. I sighed in relief. Yes, I won't be eating raw shrimp after all, I thought to myself. He he he.

As delicious as seafood are, one wrong move and it's a far cry from delicious. One wrong move, meaning overcooked seafood. Have you ever eaten rubbery shrimp or squid? Ughhhhh! So naturally, the way that the people around here eat shrimp is as is and peeled and with mayonnaise or in salads, where all you have to do is basically peel the shrimp and prepare a sauce. TH likes it this way - Crevettes (Shrimps) Pamplemousse, which is shrimps with grapefruit / pomelo, mayonnaise, and seasoned with salt and pepper. The grapefruit gives out a bitter, sweet, and sour balance to the naturally sweet shrimp. I'm not big on fruits in a dish, unless in a dessert, but I understand why people love this. Much like a Mango-Shrimp Salad or a Pineapple-Shrimp Salad, which is common in Asian restaurants.

If you live in the Lorraine region of France, you buy shrimps cooked like these above. Actually they are sold unpeeled, we had to peel them for the salad. But if you live nearby and know where I can buy raw shrimps, please let me know because I would love to buy some and make a hot dish (Gambas al Ajillo - yuuuuummmm)! Contact me!

And for the seafood-phobic in the family (aka my nephew), DO prepared a cold cuts platter for him to feast on. Of course, he didn't finish it all. These are all specialties of the region and will be featured in a different post soon.