• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • My Account
  • Cart
  • Contact Us
    • Shipping Policy
    • Refunds and Returns
    • Terms & conditions

Sailing Britican

Learn to Sail with Confidence

TwitterYoutubeFacebookLinkedinPinterestInstagram
  • Home
  • Get Sailing Experience
  • Delivery Assistance
  • Sailing Books
  • Sailing How To’s
    • Buying A Boat
    • Checklists
    • CopperCoat
    • Destinations
      • Atlantic Crossing
      • Bahamas
      • Bermuda
      • Caribbean
      • Florida
      • Mediterranean
    • Electrical Systems
    • Getting Started
    • Safety
    • Kids On A Boat
    • Life Aboard
    • Maintenance
    • Major Upgrades
    • Making An Income
    • Marina Life
    • Our Journey
    • Organization & Cleaning
    • Passage Planning
    • Sailing Gear
    • Sailing, Maneuvering, & Mooring
    • VHF
  • Sailing Gear

Don't Step on Sea Urchins – Eat Them!

June 28, 2015 Leave a Comment

Share
Pin3
Tweet15
WhatsApp
Print
Email
18 Shares

Sea UrchinsAs we sail around the Mediterranean, we are privileged to try all sorts of local delicatessens

Rabbit, horse, baby birds and now I’ve tasted the interesting flavours of sea urchins (see video below).

When we went to Malta, we tried their famous rabbit stew (delicious). In Catania, Sicily we enjoyed a family BBQ where friends made us the traditional grilled horse sandwiches – they were amazing.

Sea Urchins

This is me eating my second horse sandwich in Catania, Sicily

Yes- I had two massive grilled horse sandwiches!

While staying in Preveza, Greece we went up to a mountainside town (a town that I can’t pronounce or spell) and enjoyed a night of lamb, beef and pork. That probably sounds normal, but what wasn’t normal was to see the animal hanging in front of us and being butchered just before it was grilled and served to us.

Not long ago I heard that school children are failing to understand where food comes from. Instead of saying that beef comes from a cow, they’re saying that it comes from the grocery store. Well…my 5 year old daughter, Sienna, not only knows were meat comes from, she’s been fortunate to have a Greek butcher explain all of the cuts of each animal. I found it amazing to watch Sienna take an interest in the meat and the various cuts.

Sea urchins

She wasn’t turned off by view of animal carcasses – she was simply inquisitive

Furthermore, the meat from the restaurant is the best I’ve ever had – it’s grilled with some salt and oregano. Oh-my-gosh..everything I’ve had there melts in your mouth.

What else? In Cyprus I tried the baby bird delicatessen (this is not a legal dish – you need a local person to order these for you). When the plate of 6 to 12 birds arrive at your table, you have to cut the head off, make an incision in the stomach to pull out the insides and then you eat the rest. I really, really had a hard time eating these baby birds. In fact, I could only eat two before I apologised for being ‘too full’. Fortunate for me, my local friend wasn’t unhappy to eat my left-overs.

The baby birds tasted like chicken fat and there was a bit of crunch (the bones)  – gross…I know!

In Crete, I ate a massive plate of snails…I thought it was going to be like escargo where you get six or perhaps twelve snails in garlic and butter, but the dish in Crete came with about 40 smaller snails. They were cooked in oil and rosemary.

sea urchins

The first 20 snails were okay but I really struggled to eat more

And my most recent eating adventure has been with sea urchins. Interestingly, Italians pay a pretty penny to eat urchins – whether the urchin meat (it’s the eggs you eat) is being sold in a cup from a local fish market or over a dish of pasta yet the Greeks don’t eat them at all.

I suppose it’s the same with horse. The English don’t eat horse and the French (and many other nations) love it. And in some countries people eat cat and dog!

Anyway, while sailing around the Greek Ionian, our friend Stefano, the Italian Admiral (retired) decided to find, collect, clean, and prepare a sea urchin meal for us.

Since the Greeks don’t eat sea urchins there’s a massive abundance of them in the Greek waters

Watch the video below to see the start to finish process…My husband’s reaction is quite funny – at first he tried to cover up his dislike for the sea urchin mush – hehehehe. The video was filmed off the island of Meganisi in the Greek Ionian.

As a side note, Stefano has told me that catching sea urchins on a full moon is the best in any month without the letter ‘r’ in it…but he’s talking about the Italian spelling of the months. So, good months are January, May, June and  July. Apparently, during a full moon the urchins are much more full of eggs.

Finally, Stefano told me to pass on that it’s important to not wipe out a whole family of sea urchins. They do need to reproduce, so when collecting them, spread your collection out a bit.

Share
Pin3
Tweet15
WhatsApp
Print
Email
18 Shares

Tags: Food, galley, garlic, how to, kitchen, Olive oil, Recipe, Sea Urchin, Spaghetti Categories: Recipe

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel

Disclosure: We only recommend products that we use ourselves and all opinions expressed are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, we may earn a small commission.

sidebar

Blog Sidebar

Get Sailing Experience

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCH_OO7F0tE

Book Your Sailing Experience

Click here for: Full details, pricing, and application form here.

Must-Have Guides

Checklists For Sailors

VHF Radio Checklists For Sailors

Sailboat Buying Guide For Cruisers

A Sailing Cruiser's Guide To Making Money

Britican Experience

Sailboat Liveaboard Sailing Experiences

Free Guides

50 Suggested Checklists

Becoming a sailing cruiser

10 Steps To Buying A Sailboat

Electrical System Audit

Boat Safety Checklist

This Might Be Of Interest…

Recent Posts

  • Sailing the Bahamas – US East Coast to the Bahamas: 22 Action Steps February 25, 2025
  • Anchor and Rode Checklist – #1 Best Sailor’s Guide to a Good Night’s Sleep February 11, 2025
  • Sailing Away with Your Family: 1 Easy Step to Getting Started February 1, 2025
  • Why a Dedicated Boat Knife Is A #1 Must Have August 5, 2024
  • Boat Cruising: Your Guide to Smooth Sailing and Endless Adventures July 29, 2024

Nautical Gift Store

Footer

Contact Sailing Britican

We help people find adventure and freedom by becoming sailing cruisers. If you would like to get in touch or having any questions, call or email us!
WhatsApp: +1 910 403 3067 Email: info@SailingBritican.com

Sailing Guides Payment Info

We accept PayPal and all major credit cards including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB Diners Club, credit and debit cards. Transactions are performed via a SSL server to ensure your safety.

Credit-Cards

Sailing On Social Media

TwitterYoutubeFacebookLinkedinPinterestInstagram

Statements

  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Statement
  • Refund and Returns Policy

Site Developed by Gary Fox

Sailing Britican, All Rights Reserved

Manage Cookie Consent
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
Preferences
{title} {title} {title}