ROUSES.COM
13
Louisiana
Louisiana Breakfast Shrimp
by
Pableaux Johnson +
photos by
Sara Essex Bradley
At first, of course, it was the name of the dish that got my attention: Breakfast shrimp.
Raised in south Louisiana a stone’s throw from the Gulf, I grew up celebrating shrimp
season by driving to nearby Delcambre and buying the beady-eyed beasties straight off
the boats. My family was raised on weeknight boils and okra gumbo studded with plump
tail meat. In the heart of shrimp country, I’d seen more different dishes than Bubba Gump
himself — stew, etouffée, scampi, cocktail, creole, stuffed, barbecue — but was enticed by
the near-revolutionary thought of shrimp with morning coffee.
I found the first mention of Breakfast Shrimp in the wonderful cookbook
The Gift of
Southern Cooking
by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock. It was a simple dish — fresh shrimp
sautéed with onions and garlic in a thin buttery sauce, spiked with green onion and served
(be still my heart) over a bed of fluffy white rice. For anybody raised close to the gulf, this
seems like the proverbial Breakfast of Champions.
The dish is attributed to South Carolina shrimpers who, to kick off a hard day’s work,
made a quick, hearty dish (essentially a light, quick etouffée) from the day’s first catch. And
in a reflection of the region’s active agricultural tradition, it was served over rice, South
Carolina’s trademark crop. Over time, the starch would change, and the dish would become
“shrimp and grits,” the Southern standard and ever-present restaurant menu offering.
After making the dish once — it seemed as easy as breathing — Breakfast Shrimp became
a summertime standard at my own table when the little critters were in peak season. Unlike
a lot of different “shrimp and grits” variations, there’s not a lot of added ingredients (tomato,
bacon, mushrooms, andouille, Worchestershire sauce) to compete with the shrimp’s sweet
natural flavors. And since it’s best to cook the seafood as little as possible to avoid the
dreaded “rubber shrimp,” it’s a quick dish that’s done in about the same time it
takes to cook a batch of rice.
It’s also become an integral part of my “road cooking” repertoire — a dish that
I can recreate in just about any kitchen during a beach house vacation, road trip
or any time far-flung friends allow me to take over their kitchen for the night.
It’s a practical, rich dish that’s so simple it seems like magic — with the added
bonus of a good multi-leveled story that connects the South’s great rice cultures.
Low Country
Breakfast Shrimp
adapted from Edna Lewis and Scott
Peacock’s
The Gift of Southern Cooking
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
6
tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter
2
medium onions, finely chopped
½
cup thinly sliced scallion
2
garlic cloves, finely chopped
1
teaspoon kosher salt
½
teaspoon fresh-ground back pepper
2
pounds 31/35 shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ to 1 cup water
HOW TO PREP
Heat 4 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet
over medium heat until the butter foams, then cook
onions with scallion, garlic, salt, and ¼ teaspoon
pepper, stirring occasionally, until softened but not
browned (about 5 to 7 minutes).
Add shrimp and cook, stirring for about 1 minute.
Add ½ cup water and simmer gently, stirring, until
shrimp are just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes
(shrimp should be floating in light sauce; add more
water if necessary).
Remove from heat and add 2 remaining tablespoons
butter until melted and creamy. Season with salt
and pepper and serve immediately on top of white
rice or (if you must) grits.
(Serves 6)
RECIPE,
try me!
