Edna Lewis & Scott Peacock’s shrimp paste

Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock’s shrimp paste is a Lowcountry South Carolina variation on traditional British potted shrimp. The lineage is obvious but the differences significant. The tiny shrimp in potted shrimp remain whole and are prepared for the pot by boiling. The bigger shrimp in the paste are fried in a lot of butter and, as the name implies, pureed to pulp. The British model invariably is seasoned with cayenne and mace; its Lowcountry successor keeps cayenne but omits the mace for Sherry and lemon juice, which latter also sometimes appears in the original. Each variation is one of the simplest and best of starters or lunch bases, and in the Lowcountry shrimp paste traditionally also is stirred into grits. All good.

• ¼ lb unsalted butter
• ½ lb shelled raw shrimp
• salt and pepper
• 1 oz or more medium Sherry (Amontillado is good; the slightly sweeter East India Solera from Lustau is extremely good as well)
• 1 Tablespoon or more lemon juice
• cayenne

1. Melt 3 Tablespoons of the butter in a heavy skillet over high heat until it foams and browns, then add the shrimp and seasoning.
2. Cook the shrimp until just pink and tightly curled, usually in but a couple of minutes.
3. Dump the shrimp in a food processer using tongs: You want to leave all the butter in the pan.
4. Add the Sherry, lemon juice and cayenne, then reduce the mixture to a syrup and pour it over the shrimp.
5. Blast the shrimp to a slurry, then add the rest of the butter in chunks and blast te new mixture to a paste.
6. Mash the paste into the container of your choice and chill it overnight.
7. Let the paste warm to room temperature before service.

Notes:

-We like to stir minced scallion greens into the paste after processing it. Nontraditional and good.

-As usual, a splotch of Worcestershire would do no harm.