Seafood Quiche

By Adrian Rogers - Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Seafood Quiche Recipe

Ingredients

9" pie shell
4 eggs
2 cups light cream
⅓ cup minced onion
⅛ tsp. Cayenne
1 tsp. Salt
8 oz shrimp
1 cup shredded Swiss or mozzarella cheese
Snipped parsley
Chives

Procedure

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare 9” pie crust. Beat eggs until blended. Stir in cream, onion, salt and cayenne.

Pat seafood dry with paper towels. Sprinkle seafood and cheese in pastry-lined pan. Pour egg mixture over seafood and cheese. Sprinkle with parsley and chives.

Place in the oven on a lower shelf. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. Bake 30 minutes longer or until knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean. Let quiche stand ten minutes before cutting into wedges

Backstory and Sustainability

For me, seafood and Lunenburg goes hand in hand. One of the dishes that my family routinely enjoyed was seafood quiche, a delicious blend of eggs, cheese, shrimp, and red peppers. This was a convenient meal that my mom could prepare in advance, so it could be enjoyed for lunch, potlucks, or on the road. In Lunenburg the fishing industry is dominated by Highliner foods, which is now part of Clearwater Inc. During my childhood, my father worked there, and he routinely brought home seafood, like shrimp. The shrimp we use is a Highliner black tiger prawn product, which had a Best Aquaculture Certification. My mother uses the black tiger prawn because of the large size of the animal, the taste, and low price. This is one of many prawn species available in grocery stores. The black tiger prawn is imported from Southeast Asia (the products I found came from Vietnam). Some Asian aquaculture facilities are notorious because of the antibiotics used, the destruction of mangroves ecosystems, and unhygienic practices. You can read more about asian aquaculture here. Some products are more sustainable than others, so research is required to determine which products and certifications are ideal. Ocean Wise has recommendations for different products, and at a local fishmonger, Dory Mates' Seafood Shop, I found another black tiger prawn that had an Ocean Wise recommendation.

I am a big supporter of local products; unfortunately, many local shrimp fisheries involve bottom trawls, which destroys bottom habitat and results in high rates of by-catch. One fishery in Nova Scotia's Chedabucto Bay uses traps to harvest Northern pink shrimp; however, I wasn't able to find any shrimp from this fishery.