Scampi, also called Dublin Bay Prawn or Norway Lobster ('' Nephrops norvegicus''), is an edible

lobster Lobsters are a family (Nephropidae, synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws, including the first pair, ...

of the order ''

Decapoda The Decapoda or decapods (literally "ten-footed") are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, including many familiar groups, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp and prawns. Most decapods are scavengers. The order is es ...

''. It is widespread in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

and northeastern

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, from

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

, and is a gastronomic delicacy. Scampi became the only species in the genus ''

Nephrops ''Nephrops'' is a genus of lobsters comprising a single extant species, ''Nephrops norvegicus'' (the Norway lobster or Dublin Bay prawn), and several fossil species. It was erected by William Elford Leach in 1814, to accommodate ''N. norvegicus' ...

'' after several other species were moved to the closely related genus ''

Metanephrops ''Metanephrops'' is a genus of lobsters, commonly known as scampi. Important species for fishery include '' Metanephrops australiensis'' (Australian scampi) and ''Metanephrops challengeri'' (New Zealand scampi). It differs from other lobsters su ...

''. Shrimp Scampi is a food that includes various culinary preparations of certain crustaceans, such as ''

'', as well as

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

or prawns. Shrimp Scampi preparation styles vary regionally. The United Kingdom legally defines ''scampi'' specifically as ''Nephrops norvegicus''. Monkfish tail was formerly sometimes used and sold as scampi in the United Kingdom, contravening the

Fish Labelling (Amendment) England Regulation 2005 Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of liv ...

and Schedule 1 of the

Food Labelling Regulations 1996 Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingest ...

Name

''Scampi'' is the Italian plural of , ''Nephrops norvegicus''. The Italian word may be derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

καμπή ''kampē'' ("bending" or "winding").

''Nephrops norvegicus''

Norwegian lobsters are also known as Dublin Bay prawns, - the term prawn can be confusing as it is a vernacular or colloquial term that has no clearly defined scientific meaning - see Shrimp versus prawn. The food labelling laws (in Britain, for example) define "scampi" as ''Nephrops norvegicus''. In the UK, it is generally known by its common name, the Langoustine.

Preparation methods

According to the French encyclopaedia ''

Larousse Gastronomique ' () is an encyclopedia of gastronomy. The majority of the book is about French cuisine, and contains recipes for French dishes and cooking techniques. The first edition included few non-French dishes and ingredients; later editions include many ...

'', langoustine are delicate and need to be poached only for a few seconds in court-bouillon. When very fresh, they have a slightly sweet flavour that is lost when frozen. They can be eaten plain, accompanied by melted butter. In Britain, the shelled tail meat is generally referred to as "scampi tails" or "wholetail scampi", although cheaper "re-formed scampi" can contain other parts together with other fish. It is served fried in batter or breadcrumbs and usually with chips and tartar sauce. It is widely available in supermarkets and restaurants and considered pub or snack food, although factors reducing Scottish fishing catches (such as bad weather) can affect its availability. In the United States, "shrimp scampi" is the menu name for

in Italian-American cuisine (the actual word for "shrimp" in Italian is ''gambero'' or ''gamberetto'', plural ''gamberi'' or ''gamberetti''). "Scampi" by itself is a dish of ''Nephrops norvegicus'' served in garlic butter, dry

white wine White wine is a wine that is fermented without skin contact. The colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured pulp of grapes, which may have a skin of any colour. Whi ...

and Parmesan cheese, either with bread or over pasta or rice, or sometimes just the shrimp alone. The term "shrimp scampi" is construed as a style of preparation, with variants such as "chicken scampi", "lobster scampi", and "scallop scampi".

As an alternative seafood

Owing to the decline of fish stocks, British chefs including

Heston Blumenthal Heston Marc Blumenthal (; born 27 May 1966) is a British celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer. Blumenthal is regarded as a pioneer of multi-sensory cooking, food pairing and flavour encapsulation. He came to public attention with un ...

and

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Hugh Christopher Edmund Fearnley-Whittingstall (born 14 January 1965) is an English celebrity chef, television personality, journalist, food writer, and campaigner on food and environmental issues. Fearnley-Whittingstall hosted the '' River ...

launched a "Fish Fight" campaign in 2010, attempting to raise awareness of alternative seafoods. They championed scampi and other lesser-known seafood dishes as a more sustainable source of protein.

National Shrimp Scampi Day

In the United States,

National Shrimp Scampi Day National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

occurs annually on April 29.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Food American cuisine Animal-based seafood European cuisine Seafood dishes Shrimp dishes