Shrimp are a shellfish that have an extremely delicate flavor. Since shrimp have the characteristic of lasting long after being fished, it would be better to buy them when they are still alive, in order to have a sure guarantee of freshness. If, on the other hand, you buy them after they have been frozen, it is important that you check smell, body and eyes.

The smell must be delicate, nice, with no traces of ammonia; their look should be bright, the body stiff and hard. The eyes must be bulging and be of a very deep black. If you buy them really fresh remember that they have to be eaten very soon to fully appreciate their taste. You can keep them only a day in the fridge or you can freeze them and keep them for as long as three months.

There is not really a proper month or season when to buy them: all the year round is OK for them. To clean them, you just need to rinse them thoroughly under running water. There are two main methods of cooking shrimp: either grilled or boiled. The right portion should be about 4 ounces per person. What follows is a typical and very famous Venetian recipe for a schrimp recipe:

Scampi alla busara

Ingredients (for 4 people):

• 20 big scampi
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 4 spoonfuls of extra virgin olive oil
• half glass of white dry wine
• 2 tomatoes
• salt and black pepper

Put some water to boil. When it boils throw the tomatoes into it and let cook for a couple of minutes, so that you can easily peel them. Cut them into small cubes.

Peel and chop the onion and garlic very finely. Put them with the oil in a frying pan and let them become slightly “golden”.

In the meantime wash scampi under running water, dry them afterwards with kitchen paper, put them into the pan, add a little bit of salt and pepper, cover with a lid and let cook for three minutes on low heat. Then take the scampi out of the pan and leave them aside. Add the wine to the cooking liquid left in the pan and wait till evaporates almost completely. Then add the tomato cubes, a little salt and cook the sauce for about 20 minutes at a very low heat. If the sauce becomes too dry, you should add some spoonfuls of warm water to keep it soft. Add the scampi, cover with lid and let cook for another seven minutes.

Before serving, add abundant black pepper and, if you like it (this is a kind of variation) also some freshly chopped parsley.

Fish is always served accompanied by white wines. My suggestion is to choose either PINOT BIANCO or TOCAI ITALICO, which are two typical white wines of the region Veneto, whose capital city is Venice.