9th edition, No.3, November 2008
Brown shrimps: a must for Christmas and New Year’s Eve
Brown shrimps or North Sea shrimps (Crangon crangon) are included in many festive snacks and dishes at Christmas and on New Year’s Eve. This typical Dutch product is the smallest species of prawn, but it is also the most delectable.
There are about 1950 different prawn families worldwide and 300 species are used for human consumption. The North Sea shrimp is one of the best-known species: 33 million kilos of these shrimps are landed every year in north-west Europe. The vast majority (10 million kilos) is landed by Dutch fishermen, and other countries that land these shrimps are Belgium, Denmark, Britain and Germany.
Brown or North Sea shrimps not only differ in size and colour from other shrimps and prawns, but there is also a tremendous difference in flavour. North Sea shrimps have a more distinctive taste, which is clearly discernible in cold and warm dishes alike.
A sustainable choice!
North Sea shrimps have suffered relatively little under excessive fishing. In addition, shrimp fishermen have joined forces with environmental and nature conservation organisations to get shrimp fishing in the North Sea certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). One of the improvements currently being implemented is reducing by-catches. A ‘sea flap’ affixed to the fishing net enables fish other than the target species to escape, and there is a rotating shrimp sorting machine on board ship that immediately sifts out small shrimps so they can be returned to the sea.
Available all year round
Shrimps are caught all year round, with landing peaks in April and May and in the autumn. The shrimps are washed, cooked and chilled on board ship immediately after being caught. On arrival at the Dutch fish auction, the shrimps are inspected, sifted, weighed and sold using the special auction clock. Eighty-five percent of the shrimps are peeled.
A certain percentage of the shrimps are exported unpeeled to France. These shrimps are cooked in seawater with extra kitchen salt added. They are known as ‘salted shrimps’ and are eaten shell and all, but without the head.
Belgium is the Netherlands’ biggest export market (50 percent of the peeled prawns), followed by Germany (25 percent). There is increasing interest in North Sea shrimps in the Netherlands: although only 7 percent of all Dutch households bought North Sea shrimps in 2002, this percentage was almost doubled in 2007.
