I Like Spike

It used to be that sea urchins were available only to aficionados of sushi. But chefs in upscale restaurants are fans of the buttery delicacy too. In French restaurants, you’re likely to find sea urchin melted into the top of a white-fleshed fish to add richness. Seafood writer Alan Davidson makes an excellent sauce by mashing six to 12 sea urchins with a bit of olive oil and mixing them into a cup of hollandaise. But the best way to eat a sea urchin is right from the shell.

Of course, because the shell is covered with spiky spines, opening a sea urchin is tricky business. (The old English meaning of urchin is hedgehog.) Fans of the orange flesh, called corals, feel the reward is worth the effort.

To prepare a sea urchin, turn it upside-down in one hand--that’s with the mouth side up. You may want to wear gloves for this--and note that the spines may stain your hands and clothes a brilliant, but hard to remove, purple. Take a pair of scissors and cut through the shell from the mouth opening to the edge. Keep cutting in a circle until you reach the beginning. Remove the bottom. Lightly rinse or shake out the viscera. You should be left with five coral branches still attached to the shell. Now all you need is a wedge of lemon, a spoon and an appetite.