did you know . . .

I love pan-seared scallops.  I often get them when M and I go to dinner, and I have tried to make them at home on different occasions. A couple of times they turned out well, and on one occasion I had to throw them all out because they had this metallic awful taste to them.  I honestly thought they were rotten.  Since that occasion I haven't tried to make scallops at home, and I didn't give it too much more thought until . . . .

Recently, I was watching an episode of (my favorite) America's Test Kitchen and learned the most interesting thing.  There are two different kinds of scallops - "dry" and "wet."

What is the difference?  The so called "wet" scallops are actually treated with phosphates.  The phosphate acts like a preservative, but they also make the scallops weigh more because they retain water.  The "wet" scallops also have a metallic taste to them, which can only really be covered up with some sort of strong acidic taste like lemon or lime.  Also, "wet" scallops do not caramelize as well because they are retaining all that liquid.

On the other hand dry scallops are not treated with any type of chemical or preservative.  So they are often more fresh than "wet" scallops, caramelize better, weigh less, and taste so much better.

So how do you tell the difference?  You could ask - although most the time the person behind the seafood counter at the supermarket is a 17-year-old, and has no idea what you are talking about.  Or, you could try to figure it out for yourself.  One way to differentiate between the two is their color: "Dry" scallops are a pearl color and "wet" scallops are white.

Good luck.