New Orleans Style Barbecued Shrimp

Barbecued shrimp, one of the best dishes in all of New Orleans cooking, is completely misnamed. They're neither grilled nor smoked, and there's no barbecue sauce. It was created in the mid-1950s at Pascal's Manale Restaurant. A regular customer came in and reported that he'd enjoyed a dish in a Chicago restaurant that he thought was made with shrimp, butter, and pepper. He asked Pascal Radosta to make it. Radosta took a flyer at it. The customer said that the taste was not the same, but he liked the new dish even better. So a legend began.

The dish is simple: huge whole shrimp in a tremendous amount of butter and black pepper. The essential ingredient is large, heads-on shrimp, since the fat in the shrimp heads makes most of the flavor. You can improvise on this. Sometime beer or wine is added, but I think it is fine as is.

The amount of butter and pepper in here are fantastic. But understand that this is not a dish you will eat often, although you will want to. You should to try it once, though.

Ingredients

1.5 Kg fresh large shrimp with heads on, about 40 shrimp.

50 ml lemon juice

30 ml Lea & Perrins or any worcestershire sauce.

3 cloves garlic, chopped

45 ml freshly ground black pepper

5 ml salt

750 g butter, softened

30 ml olive oil

15 ml Crystal or Tabasco hot sauce.

1 loaf French bread

This is how you do it.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C.

Devein the shrimp if you wish, rinse them and shake off the excess water. Put them in a large baking dish, and distribute the liquid ingredients over them evenly. Cover with a thin even layer of black pepper. Don`t worry, just do it, it is almost impossible to use too much pepper. Cut the butter into small chunks and distribute evenly over the top. Add salt over this.

Place in the oven for 10 minutes. Stir. Back in until shrimp are just done. You will have pink shrimp in a reddish-brown sauce. Serve in large bowls with lots of the liquid. No utensils here, use your hands. the bread is for sopping up the juices. Don`t check your cholesterol level for at least a month.

About 4-6 servings.