Pascal’s Manale’s most important ingredient is the head-on shrimp. As co-owner and chef Mark DeFelice says, “The head on the shrimp is important because it contains the fat and the protein, and that’s where a lot of the flavor is from in the barbecue shrimp.”
To read DeFelice’s hack to use headless shrimp go here or here.
It may be hard to find head-on shrimp in cities away from the coast, so DeFelice came up with a shortcut. He uses more spices to make up for the flavor of the missing heads.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound or 21-25 headless shrimp (wild caught is vastly superior to farmed shrimp)
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
- big pat of butter
The “Manale spice” mix:
- 4 teaspoons black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon basil
Directions
Wash and pat dry shrimp. Add the Manale spice mix, garlic, Lea & Perrins and Tabasco. Then pour the olive oil over the shrimp, adding the white wine. Stir together. (Though it’s not in Mark’s recipe, I saw him put a big pat of butter in the pan.)
Cook over high heat until shrimp are done, approximately 10 minutes. Do not overcook shrimp.
The Plate
Serve the shrimp in a wide soup bowl, and have hard-crust French bread on hand for dipping in the buttery, peppery sauce. Peel the shrimp and eat.
The dish is best accompanied by a bottle of ice-cold Abita Amber Beer and a Louis Prima song.
From NOLA.com whose researchers found the published recipe printed in 1995.
Chef Mark’s Barbecued Shrimp
1 pound headless shrimp, 21 to 25 count
5 teaspoons Manale’s spice*
1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon Lea & Perrin’s Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
1 cup margarine, melted
1/2 cup white wine, such as Chablis
Rinse shrimp and pat dry. Place shrimp in a medium saucepan. Add spice, garlic, Worcestershire, and Tabasco and stir to coat shrimp. Pour melted margarine over shrimp and then white wine. Stir together. Cook over high heat until shrimp are cooked, stirring occasionally. Do not overcook shrimp.
Serve with French bread for dipping.
For a great sounding version that uses time to incorporate the flavor go to Drick’s Rambling Cafe. Note how he cooks the shrimp then pours on the seasoning then lets it rest in the warm oven to incorporate the flavors. That sounds like a restaurant way to have a dish essentially cooked and ready to serve over an extended time period.
