Sea Urchin

If you never had sea urchin, it is your lost. They are small palm size spiky sea creatures what not everyone would love it (I mean to eat it).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_urchin

“According to Under Southern Sea’s there are about 20 species of Sea Urchin in southern Australia and 18 of these are unique to the region. The Black Sea Urchin can be found in Tasmania, Victoria and up through most of NSW.”

In Japanese it is called Uni (served raw). Because the strong taste I often have Uni sushi, rather than eat them on their own. The Japanese Uni tastes a lot stronger and has a lighter color than the Sicilian ones.

“Uni has historically been graded based on color, texture, and freshness. The highest grade is a bright yellow/gold (Grade A) with a firm texture and somewhat sweet. Grade B uni is a more muted yellow and has a softer texture and is less sweet, while Grade C uni is referred to as 'vana' and is often the parts left over from uni that has broken apart during processing or handling.”

http://www.sushifaq.com/sushi-items/sushi-items-uni.htm

This time in Palermo it was my first time see live sea urchin (Ricci di Mare - in Italian), although they do not really move. In the Sicilian restaurant all seafood were displaced outside to attract customers. Of course it works! I ordered some sea urchins and clams to end my day. The sea urchins are freshly cut and served with bread. The clams are perfectly cooked with fresh herbs. I scooped the orange parts of sea urchin with the bread. It definitely taste like sea! But for sure they taste less strong than the ones in Japanese restaurant.

I found a blog where have a better pic and interesting story:
http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/2007/08/28/catching-and-eating-ricci-di-mare-sea-urchins/

Oh, did I mention the orange part I eat is the female urchin’s reproductive organ? And I heard because of that some months are illegal to catch sea urchins. We need to give them a chance to reproduce so the sea urchin will not diminish from the planet. Actually it is interesting about how they reproduce:

“The male and the female sea urchins shoot their eggs and sperm directly into the ocean and hope for the best. Scientist are not so sure about the factors that set off this spawning, but it is believed it has something to do with the length of the days and the sea conditions.”

The live sea urchin is pretty funky. And someone was feeding a sea urchin a cookie? Weird. But check it out:
http://www.vimeo.com/225524