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    Tomato with grey shrimps (tomate-crevettes)

    tomate-crevettes / tomaat-garnaal

    A peeled, hollowed tomato filled with hand-peeled North Sea grey shrimps bound with a little fresh mayonnaise and lemon. A Belgian classic served cold as a starter or light lunch; this is Jeroen Meus's version from Dagelijkse kost.

    Two peeled red tomatoes filled with lightly dressed small grey shrimps, each topped with its tomato lid, on a plain white plate.
    Editorial illustration of the documented recipe; not a photograph of a kitchen-tested result.
    Servings
    4
    Preparation
    55 min
    Cooking
    5 min
    Total
    1 h
    Difficulty
    Moderate

    Equipment

    • Pan of boiling water and a bowl of cold water
    • Small sharp knife and a coffee spoon
    • Mixing bowl and whisk or stick blender for the mayonnaise
    • Pastry brush
    Servings4

    Ingredients

    • The tomatoes

    • The filling

    • The mayonnaise

    Shopping list

    Method

    1. Bring a pan of water to the boil. Remove the stalks from the tomatoes and cut out the hard core beneath with a twist of the knife. Cut a small cross in the top of each.

    2. Plunge the tomatoes into the boiling water for 12 seconds, then straight under cold water, and pull off the skins with a small knife.

      Why Twelve seconds is enough to loosen the skin; longer and the flesh turns mealy.

    3. Cut a level 'hat' off each tomato and keep it. Scoop out the seeds with a coffee spoon and cut away the fleshy centre so each tomato becomes an even cup. Work carefully so the walls do not tear.

    4. Peel the shrimps by hand.

    5. Make the mayonnaise by hand or with a stick blender from the yolks, mustard, vinegar and oil, and season.

    6. Put the shrimps in a bowl and fold in a modest spoonful of mayonnaise, adding more only if needed: the shrimps should be thinly coated, not swimming. Add lemon juice to taste and some pepper.

      Why Too much mayonnaise hides the sweet, briny taste of the grey shrimps.

    7. Brush the outside of the tomatoes and the hats with olive oil, fill generously with the shrimp salad and put the hats on. Serve as fresh as possible; at most keep them a few hours in the fridge under cling film.

    To drink & serve with

    Substitutions

    • Home-made mayonnaise → A good shop-bought mayonnaise made with pasteurised egg, loosened with lemon juice (editorial suggestion; avoids raw egg).
    • Grey shrimps → There is no true substitute; small cooked peeled prawns make a different, less sweet dish.

    Common mistakes

    • Leaving the tomatoes too long in boiling water: the flesh goes soft and floury.
    • Drowning the shrimps in mayonnaise.
    • Filling the tomatoes long in advance: they release water and the filling turns soggy.

    Storage & reheating

    Do not keep. Serve within a few hours, chilled; discard leftovers that have stood at room temperature for more than 2 hours.

    Safety

    Contains crustaceans, egg, mustard and possibly sulphites (vinegar). The shrimps are not cooked in this recipe, so buy them cooked as they are normally sold, keep them refrigerated and eat them the same day. Raw-egg mayonnaise: the NHS advises using only eggs certified safe to eat raw (in the UK, British Lion or Laid in Britain); otherwise use pasteurised egg. Cooked shellfish is fine in pregnancy, raw shellfish is not (NHS).

    Allergens

    Crustaceans · Egg · Mustard · Sulphites

    Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.

    Dietary

    gluten-free

    Belgium's cold classic

    Tomate-crevettes is a fixture of Belgian brasseries and coastal cafés: a whole peeled tomato, hollowed out and filled with grey shrimps in mayonnaise. Jeroen Meus's version for Dagelijkse kost is careful about two things, the tomato and the dressing. The tomatoes are skinned with a twelve-second dip in boiling water, hollowed into neat cups and brushed with olive oil for shine. The hand-peeled shrimps are bound with only enough fresh mayonnaise to coat them, sharpened with lemon and pepper.

    Meus adds a frugal tip: the heads and shells left from peeling a kilo of shrimps can be dried in the oven and simmered with vegetables, star anise and herbs into a shrimp stock for the freezer.

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