The Sea Urchin, or erizo has to be one of the most interesting things I have eaten so far.  Far up north in the Asturias region of Spain (maybe I got there on the back of a motorcycle? you never can tell….)  in a city called Gijón, I stood at long bar, staring at the black shapes on my plate getting ready to attack. I saw them the day before….I have to have those I thought.  And I did.

They were presented steamed, though you will find them in the haute cuisine of Spain as an oceanic accent.  The best way to describe what spiky sea urchin tastes like is being hit in a face with a very big ocean wave.  Es como un golpe de una ola del mar en su cara....  The part to eat is the caviar, that would be the orange bits in the middle.  Apparently the females produce a much better flavor than the males, but both are yummy, high in protein with certain anticancer properties.  Not bad for such a freaky looking little guy! I wouldn’t recommend fishing for these yourself though, some are poisonous!