Chef Thomas
A British BLT
Back bacon crisped in a hot pan, a ripe tomato that actually tastes of something, crisp lettuce and real butter on proper toast. A sandwich that earns its place in the notebook.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Potted Shrimp on Toast
Created by Chef Thomas
Tiny brown shrimp potted in butter spiced with mace and cayenne, turned out onto hot toast so the butter runs into the bread and the kitchen smells of the Lancashire coast.
Sandwiches & Wraps
British
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
15 min
Active Time
10 min cook•PT25M plus chilling total
Yield4 servings
The smell is what gets you first. Butter, warmed with mace and a trace of cayenne, with those tiny brown shrimp stirred through. It smells old-fashioned in the best possible way, like something served in a good pub on the coast, or at a table that's been set properly for no particular reason.
Potted shrimp is a Morecambe Bay thing, though the tradition runs up and down the Lancashire coast and beyond. The shrimp are small, brown, sweet, the sort you eat by the handful if you find them fresh. Potted in spiced butter and left to set, they become something else entirely: concentrated, savoury, rich without being heavy. The butter does the carrying. The shrimp provide the point.
This is a dinner party dish that doesn't behave like one. You make it the day before. You take it from the fridge. You toast good bread and turn the ramekins out. There are few better feelings than putting a warm plate in front of someone and watching them realise that the simplest-looking thing on the table is the best thing they'll eat all evening.
I wrote it down in the notebook years ago: brown shrimp, mace, hot toast, Friday. I've made it dozens of times since and the note still holds. A recipe is a conversation, not a contract, and this one barely needs words.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
peeled brown shrimp
Quantity
250g
unsalted butter
Quantity
150g
mace
Quantity
1 blade or a good pinch of ground
nutmeg
Quantity
a few passes on the grater
freshly grated
cayenne pepper
Quantity
small pinch
lemon juice
Quantity
a squeeze
fine sea salt
Quantity
to taste
sourdough or white bloomer
Quantity
4 thick slices
for toasting
lemon wedges (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| peeled brown shrimp | 250g |
| unsalted butter | 150g |
| mace | 1 blade or a good pinch of ground |
| nutmegfreshly grated | a few passes on the grater |
| cayenne pepper | small pinch |
| lemon juice | a squeeze |
| fine sea salt | to taste |
| sourdough or white bloomerfor toasting | 4 thick slices |
| lemon wedges (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Small saucepan
- •Four ramekins (about 150ml each)
- •Fine-mesh sieve or spoon for skimming
Instructions
- 1
Clarify the butter
Melt the butter gently in a small saucepan over the lowest heat you have. Don't stir it. Let it melt slowly and separate: the golden fat on top, the milky solids sinking to the bottom. When it's fully melted and the surface looks clear and calm, skim away any foam with a spoon. This is your clarified butter, or near enough. It keeps the potted shrimp sweet and clean for days. Pour it carefully into a jug, leaving the white sediment behind in the pan.
You don't need to be surgical about this. A rough clarification is fine. The point is to remove most of the milk solids, which turn rancid. Leave them behind and the butter keeps its composure. - 2
Warm the spiced butter
Pour most of the clarified butter back into a clean pan (keep a couple of tablespoons aside for sealing later). Add the mace, the nutmeg, and the cayenne. Warm it through over a gentle heat for two or three minutes, until the kitchen smells warm and slightly sweet and a little bit old-fashioned. The spices should bloom in the butter, not fry. If anything sizzles, you're too hot.
- 3
Add the shrimp
Tip the brown shrimp into the spiced butter. Stir them gently so each one gets coated. They only need a minute or two in the warm butter, just long enough to take on the spices and heat through. They're already cooked. You're not cooking them again, just bringing them into the fold. Add the lemon juice and a careful pinch of salt. Taste one on a piece of bread. Adjust. You'll know.
Brown shrimp are sweet and delicate. The cayenne should warm, not burn. The mace should hum quietly underneath. If the spice hits you before the shrimp does, pull it back with a little more butter or lemon. - 4
Pot and chill
Divide the shrimp and their butter between four ramekins, pressing them down gently with the back of a spoon so they're snug. Pour the reserved clarified butter over the top in a thin, even layer. It will set as it cools, sealing everything in. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least two hours, or overnight. The flavours deepen with time. Tomorrow's will be better than today's, though today's will be very good.
- 5
Toast and serve
When you're ready to eat, take the ramekins out of the fridge twenty minutes before serving. You want the butter to soften just enough that you can turn them out, or scoop them onto the toast in generous spoonfuls. Toast the bread properly: golden, firm, hot enough that the butter starts to melt on contact. Spread the potted shrimp thickly onto the toast. Let the butter soak into the bread. A wedge of lemon on the side, a few grinds of black pepper if you like. That's it. That's dinner.
Chef Tips
- •The shrimp matter more than anything else here. You want proper brown shrimp, not the pink prawns that come in a bag. Brown shrimp are tiny, sweet, and have a flavour that no prawn can match. A good fishmonger will have them, peeled or unpeeled. If you can only find them unpeeled, buy twice the weight and peel them yourself. It's meditative work, the sort of thing you do with the radio on.
- •Mace is the spice that makes this taste like potted shrimp rather than just shrimp in butter. It's the lacy outer coating of nutmeg, warmer and more complex than nutmeg alone. A single blade is enough. If you can't find blades, a good pinch of ground mace will do, though the flavour is a little less refined.
- •Make these the day before you need them. The butter sets properly, the spices deepen, and the whole thing firms up enough to turn out neatly onto the toast. Patience is an ingredient here.
- •Serve with a cold, sharp white wine or a dry sherry. Something that cuts through the butter and meets the sweetness of the shrimp halfway. A Muscadet, if you have one. A Manzanilla, if you don't.
Advance Preparation
- •Best made the day before serving. The flavours settle and the butter sets firmly enough to turn out cleanly. Refrigerate, covered, for up to three days.
- •Remove from the fridge twenty minutes before serving so the butter softens slightly. It should yield to a spoon but not be liquid.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 170g)
Calories
515 calories
Total Fat
32 g
Saturated Fat
19 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
10 g
Cholesterol
200 mg
Sodium
710 mg
Total Carbohydrates
35 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
21 g
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