©Plateau de fruit de mer|Alexandre Lamoureux

Seafoodiodine for the taste buds

Seafood platter

During a stay in Brittany, it’s essential to try the real seafood platter, because it’s important to treat yourself, and above all it’s one of our region’s must-tries!

©Dégustation d'huitres|Emmanuel Berthier

Creating a tray

Ingredients :

periwinkles
whelks
clams
clams
hollow and flat oysters
crabs
spider crabs
curry
prawns
grey shrimps

Preparation

For more elegant platters, you can add langoustines and Breton lobster. The best of all!
Some species can be eaten raw, such as prawns, clams and oysters: be careful with your fingers when opening them. For others, you’ll need to allow time for cooking.
Of course, the composition of your platter may vary according to the season and what you find on the market.

What accompaniments?

A good “homemade” mayonnaise will accompany your shrimps, spiders, lobster, etc. Need I remind you of the recipe?
For oysters, we suggest lemon or a small vinegar-shallot sauce.
And don’t forget that you’re in Brittany, so bread and butter are the order of the day, ½ salt butter of course!

©Repas en terrasse sur la plage de Tresmeur à Trébeurden|Emmanuel Berthier

©Pêche aux araignées de mer à Trébeurden|Emmanuel Berthier

What accessories do you need?

You’ll need an oval platter to hold all your seafood, or even better, a plinth to raise it to the center of your table. You’ll need accessories to break off your crab claws, dislodge your periwinkles from the bottom of their shells, or open your oysters!
And for a change from wipes, I’d like to suggest a more eco-friendly solution: make your own finger rinses. All you have to do is provide as many small bowls as there are guests, fill them with lukewarm water and place a lemon slice in each bowl. How easy is that?

You will need :

nutcrackers
winkle picks
small, sharp knives
oyster knife
shellfish picks
finger rinses

where to buy seafood

You can compose your own seafood platter by buying the shellfish of your choice either from a fishmonger or directly from the producer. In many cases, they’ll even take care of the cooking – even better!
And if you’d rather get your feet under the table, then choose one of the Côte de Granit Rose restaurants that feature seafood platters on their menus.
All that’s left is to choose the right wine to accompany your meal. I’d recommend a white Sancerre or Burgundy.