Nordic Cuisine.

SCALLOPS AND SEA URCHINS, SEA BUCKTHORN AND MUIKKO

From Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine

SCALLOPS

7 Norwegian scallops in the shell

Salt

Sugar

SEA URCHIN SAUCE

20 sea urchins

Lemon juice

Salt

TO SERVE

16 sea buckthorn berries

20 small muikko (small smoked and pickled fish from Finland)

Salt flakes

Cold-pressed rapeseed (canola) oil

FOR THE SCALLOPS

Shuck the scallops carefully with a strong, pointed knife and cut around the main muscle to release them from the shell. Rinse in cold water. Sprinkle the scallops with slat and a little sugar, then place in the refrigerator for 24 hours to cure. Slice each scallop into 3 and 5 slices on each plate. Keep the plates in the refrigerator until serving.

FOR THE SEA URCHIN SAUCE

Wearing gloves, use strong scissors to cut carefully into the bottom of each sea urchin and work towards the sides. Cut all the way around the shell, taking care not to prick your fingers on the sharp spikes, and remove the bottom. Strain the juice and reserve it in the refrigerator. Rinse the insides of the sea urchins with cold water and remove the edible orange “tongues” with a small teaspoon. Clean off any impurities and freeze the sea urchin “tongues” in a Paco container (the receptacles used with a Pacojet machine used to make sorbets). When frozen, spin them into a puree 2-3 times in the Pacojet and then let the puree defrost. Pass the sauce through a fine sieve, season it with lemon juice and salt to taste and add enough of the reserved natural juices to give a sabayon-like consistency.

TO SERVE

Remove the plates from the refrigerator and arrange the berries and muikko around the scallops. Sprinkle a few flakes of salt on to the scallop slices. Finally, pour some sauce onto each plate and add a few drops of rapeseed oil.