Colossal Shrimp

Colossal shrimp may be an oxymoron but here in San Felipe they are good stuff. These babies are so big they run 6-7 to the pound and are best obtained any late morning by driving slowly along the malecon, the street fronting on the downtown beach where the fishermen pull in their pangas. Look for a pick-up truck or a car with the trunk open. A man (I have not seen a woman vending there) will be standing nearby waving a specimen at passing cars. Pull alongside, look in each of the coolers at the shrimp in ice water, choose the size and take a sniff to be sure they are indeed fresh. This is the height of the season and the prices are the best they'll be. Colossals are running about $18 per kilo and the smaller sizes are correspondingly less. Actually, the biggest are best butterflied or grilled and a couple make a meal though the smaller are better for cocktails or in mixed dishes. The flavor of this seafood that hasn't been frozen is so superior that we seldom eat shrimp in the States.