Scallops tartare

Did you know you can eat scallops raw? I had no idea! My other big food-related adventure in Normandy was a cooking demonstration on several different ways to prepare the local scallops, one of which was scallops tartare. While I had some initial reservations about eating a raw scallop, I then thought, "what the hell, I'm in France and if anyone knows food, it's the French."

***Keep in mind I was in a scallop fishing region, during the scallop fishing season and these were very fresh scallops. Use caution should you decide to prepare scallops tartare.

Scallops Tartare

Fresh scallops
Soy sauce
Cider vinegar*
Shallot
Chives
Lemmon zest

*I'm assuming that this is produced with the regional cider, but I believe I've seen in it in grocery stores in the US also. I haven't checked yet.

Finely dice fresh scallops. Toss with 1 part soy sauce to 2 parts cider vinegar and lemon zest and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Garnish with chives and serve as an appetizer.

I enjoyed the raw scallops a lot but I think if I try to make them at home (I think I can get fresh scallops from the Maryland coast) I might try orange zest instead of lemon. I have notes on a few other scallop recipes that the chef showed us but to be honest, they don't make a whole lot of sense, if I can figure it out I will post on them later. You'll notice the photo is obviously of another one of the recipes and not the scallops tartare. It's also blurry because I took it on my camera phone. I will try to get it together should I be in France at a cooking demonstration again.