Is a cóctel de camarón the perfect food?
When the weather is nearing the 100s and all you are craving is food that is served chilled or cold, the argument can certainly be made for it. Even for those of us who are lucky to have air conditioning in our home, no one is ever trying to produce any kind of radiating heat from our kitchens during a heatwave. This is when L.A.'s sprawling marisquerías rise to the occasion, cooking and assembling cold Mexican-style seafood on scorching hot days for everyone else to enjoy.
A proper cóctel is hard to find because it takes patience to make. Many mariscos shops pour a tomato cocktail with clam extract with a couple of cooked chopped shrimp and a fat squirt of ketchup and call it a day, and many hungry customers are happy to eat that. But for those of us who have a passion for mariscos, nothing will ever replace simmering shrimp shells with vegetables and aromatics to make an old school shrimp consomé, then chilling it and using that as a base.
Most places offer “mixto” or “campechano” versions with chopped octopus, surimi (imitation crab meat known as “jaiva” in the U.S.), and imitation abalone made from cuttlefish or squid. Some places also offer a couple of oysters thrown into the mix to complete the seafood-induced bliss when eating them. And of course, a non-sheisty portion of buttery avocado to top it all off.
Whether you are crudo or not, these long-simmered versions of a true cóctel satisfy your soul and are good to the last sip. The next question is: Are you team pile-of-tostadas? Or are you team galletitas?