Serves 2

Sea urchins are one of those foods that few straddle the fence over. You either love them or hate them. I guess eating them on Valentine's Day and enjoying them could almost be called a bonding experience. All you need to eat them is a pair of scissors and a teaspoon.

Perhaps the strangest thing about liking sea urchins is that every time you see them during a snorkelling or diving trip, it is hard not to feel a bit primitive and want to catch them and cut them open.

Ingredients

4 sea urchins (or as many as you like!)
A loaf of the best sourdough bread you can find
Some nice French butter with little sea salt crystals in it

Instructions

Open the sea urchins by placing them in the palm of your hand with the mouth opening facing upwards. Insert one of the blades of a pair of scissors into the mouth and cut downwards about an inch until you have reached between a third and halfway down towards the base.

Turn your scissors sideways and continue cutting all around the circumference of the sea urchin shell, until you can remove the top shell like a little hat. Tip out any juices and gently fill the urchin with a little water. Swirl the water around the insides a few times and tip out. With your fingers, tweezers or a pair of chopsticks pick out any bits of seaweed away and discard.

Serve the sea urchins in the shell with a teaspoon, scooping the creamy yellow-orange roes one at a time and letting them melt on your tongue. Serve with the bread and butter.