Are sea urchins a rare delicacy or the one type of seafood you avoid? Many people in Japan enjoy eating this unusual-tasting creature, but Italians also view sea urchins or ‘ricci di mare’ as a culinary delicacy. Learn how they're best eaten in the first episode of series two of Scarrafoni In Cucina - The Ugly Ducklings of Italian cuisine.

In this episode

• In Puglia eating raw seafood is a way of life
• The edible part of a sea urchin is its gonads
• Should Australians be eating more sea urchin?

The Japanese love sea urchin. They consume up to 90 per cent of all sea urchins in the world. In Europe, Italy leads the continent.

Italians are so fond of sea urchins or ricci that they’re becoming increasingly rare. For the last thirty years fishing them has been banned for two entire months each year, May and June. The region of Sardinia stepped this up recently, introducing a total ban until 2025.

In Australia the story is very different, as explained by Deakin University’s Dr Paul Carnell.

LISTEN TO

Ricci di mare: How do Italians eat sea urchin?

SBS Italian

31/01/202327:36

Play

Sea urchins can look quite pretty, so how do they qualify as an ‘ugly duckling’?

When you open a raw sea urchin, you’re basically looking at the animal’s reproductive organs. The edible part of a sea urchin is its genital glands.

Still, that’s nothing compared to an intriguing soup popular in Hong Kong that Massimiliano is introduced to by Tom and Meg from

Food Fun Travel

.

Hear all about it in this first episode of season two, when Massimiliano discusses ricci di mare with author, TV chef and former Australian Women's Weekly Food Director Lyndey Milan. Lyndey shares her favourite way to eat ricci, along with a recipe that might be a little more approachable for most of us,

sea urchin pasta

.

Lyndey Milan, one of the most beloved food personalities of the Australian food scene.

Lyndey loves the southern region of Italy so much that she now hosts culinary tours there, and she always includes a seaside stop to taste raw sea urchin.

In Puglia they eat all sorts of seafood, raw and fresh from the sea. Sea urchins come to the table with bread and some house wine, and there's nothing better!

Lyndey Milan

Follow Scarrafoni in Cucina | The Ugly Ducklings of Italian Cuisine in the SBS Radio app or your favorite podcast app to hear all episodes in the series.

Find a collection of recipes featured in the first series on the 

SBS Food

website, including Lyndey Milan's recipe for sea urchin pasta or

Linguine with ricci

.

Listen to the Italian version of this episode here.