The Seafood From Scotland trade promotion group wants more Americans to give langoustine a try.
The organization, which is the national brand representing the seafood industry in Scotland, hosted a cooking demonstration featuring haddock, salmon, and langoustine on 13 March, 2023, at Seafood Expo North Americain Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A..
During the demonstration, Seafood From Scotland Program Manager Matthew Hurst highlighted langoustine as a potential hot new product for the U.S. restaurant scene.
“We would love to essentially improve and encourage the reputation of langoustine not only in the U.S., but worldwide,” Hurst said.
The species is often mistaken for langostino, but it is distinctly different, and despite being a longstanding mainstay of European cuisine, adoption in the U.S. has been low, Hurst said.
Langoustine has a great sustainability story thanks to the careful management of the fishery in Scotland, Hurst said. As a result, langoustine is cherished by European consumers. Chefs consider the species a delicacy and it is frequently spotted on the menus of high-end dining establishments across Europe and Asia.
Hurst said sometimes the industry struggles to get enough supply to match demand, and langoustine tends to carry a premium price tag. Additionally, professional chefs and at-home consumers alike may langoustine avoid out of trepidation that it's difficult to cook.
Those negative perceptions are all overblown, however, according to Hurst, especially in regard to its difficulty as a product.
“I think that there's maybe a bit of a stigma attached to them in terms of when you look at it, ‘How do I deal with that?’ And it's actually really, really simple," Hurst said. "It's two minutes in boiling water. You take the tail off and then you take care of the meat and it's beautiful.”
