Chloe Scott tests classic prawn cocktail recipes to make the ultimate version.
A dish often associated with suburban 1970s dinner parties, the prawn cocktail has a relatively recent heritage. The preposterous TV chef Fanny Cradock, who reigned on our screens from 1955 to the 1960s, is credited with inventing it.
Even today it’s sold as pink goo in a glass, where one has to forage around in the depths to find the two prawns.
It’s easy to sneer at but, made at home and with heart, it’s a classic and takes just 15 minutes.
Chefs from Heston Blumenthal to Simon Hopkinson adore it and there’s a recipe dedicated to it in Heston Blumenthal At Home (£30, Bloomsbury). Blumenthal says: ‘Confession time: prawn cocktail is my secret vice.’
To make the pink Marie Rose sauce, he mixes almost equal amounts of ketchup and mayonnaise. It’s also made with cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice but the result gets a ‘meh’ from me and my pals. It’s too bland, too sweet, too much like the stuff I ate as a child.
Thankfully, others have moved on. In Mary Berry’s latest book, Mary Berry’s Cookery Course (£25, DK Publishing), she surprises me not only with her inclusion of horseradish but a smidgen of tomato purée and just 2tbsp of ketchup, alongside Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce.
Not only is Blumenthal’s a salmon-pink compared to Berry’s more quaint pastel hue but Berry’s has a kick of flavour in comparison.
Then there’s that famous signature cocktail in The Prawn Cocktail Years (£25, Penguin/Michael Joseph) by Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham. Like Berry, Hopkinson and Bareham go for a low ketchup to mayo ratio, adding piquancy. There’s also lemon juice, Tabasco and 1tsp of cognac. Hooray.
As this is traditionally a no-frills dish, I wonder if shop-bought mayo is preferable to my home-made stuff. Not so – the home-made is delicious. Berry also includes crème fraîche, which adds a richness that makes you slap your lips contentedly.
It’s not all about the Marie Rose sauce, however. Delia Smith recommends rocket but I prefer watercress. Blumenthal again goes traditional, including avocado. Although I love the prawn-avo pairing, compared with other versions it has no bite.
I’m bowled over by the inclusion of spring onion in The Prawn Cocktail Years and smitten with Berry’s use of greens on top of the prawns, instead of underneath, so they don’t go soggy.
For his recipe, Nigel Slater says: ‘Too many restaurant versions try to add the chef’s signature, usually chopped, skinned tomatoes, tarragon or gherkins – in a stroke turning a classic into a travesty.’ Agreed. A simple formula will turn you into a prawn cocktail evangelist.
CHLOE’S PRAWN COCKTAIL
Recipe (serves 4)
4 glasses
100g cucumber, peeled and cubed
90g watercress, chopped
1 gem lettuce, chopped finely
260g sustainable prawns, cooked and peeled
2 spring onion bulbs, chopped
1 splash of cognac
5tbsp home-made mayo
2tbsp ketchup
5tbsp crème fraîche
juice of ½ lemon
8 drops of Tabasco
1tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp freshly ground black pepper
Mayonnaise
1 egg
300ml sunflower oil
3tbsp olive oil
1 squeeze of lemon juice
Garnish
1tsp paprika
METHOD
Step 1 To make the mayonnaise: In a tall jug, crack the egg. Very slowly pour in the sunflower oil and whizz with a blender. Keep the stream of oil going. As the mix thickens, you can add a bigger stream. It will thicken quickly with a blender. Squeeze in the lemon and a good pinch of salt. Pour in the olive oil. Blitz for the final time. Once combined, stop, or it may curdle.
Step 2 In a bowl, mix 5tbsp of the mayonnaise with the ketchup, crème fraîche, Tabasco and cayenne pepper. Then drizzle in the cognac, black pepper and lemon juice. Stir and season.
Step 3 To arrange the prawn cocktail: In the four glasses, pop in equal amounts of the prawns, saving one or two for each as a garnish. Then spoon over the sauce, allowing it to trickle down. Next, sprinkle over the spring onions and divide the greens between the four glasses. To finish, garnish each glass with a prawn or two. Dust with paprika and serve with a wedge of lemon, if you like.
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