Recipe: The Jumping Grey Shrimp Charente-Style

Grey shrimp are an Atlantic coast product, a specialty of Charente ports for decades. You must buy them alive the day of cooking, no compromise. This dish is cooked mostly from April to October, when shrimp are at the market and it's still warm enough to eat a quickly made plate. It's a Sunday lunch, not a dish that lingers in the kitchen. For wines, go for a dry white from the region or elsewhere. An Île de Ré white, a Muscadet, or Chablis work fine. The acidity cuts the butter fat and pairs with the iodine of fresh shrimp. Skip the reds, they don't work with crustaceans cooked this way. For sides, keep it simple. Good toasted country bread and salted butter. If you want to add a rocket leaf with a drop of lemon, okay. But grey shrimp Charente-style is just that, well browned, lively in your mouth.