Edwina’s brother Andy makes the best Margaritas ever, and we often experiment on him when we’re working up a new recipe. On this occasion we started with a ‘What if?’, and it worked very well indeed. It may sound odd, but scallops and Margaritas go incredibly well together, the rich, zesty, almost savoury cocktails complement the sweet and salty seafood beautifully, while the flambéing process adds a light, smoky touch and a lovely citrusy sweetness. Be very careful when you’re flambéing the scallops, make sure the space around the hob is clear, don’t get your face too close to the pan when you’re adding the booze, and it’s probably best that you have a damp tea towel at the ready, just in case the flames spread!

Margaritas:-

50mls freshly squeezed lime juice (3 – 4 limes)

50mls Cointreau

100mls Tequila

a tiny pinch of smoked Maldon sea salt

2 cubes of ice

Scallops:-

2 large, very fresh, unsoaked scallops, cut in half horizontally, roes removed

1 dstspn Tequila and 1 dstspn Cointreau mixed

6 0.5cm x 3 cm strips of orange zest

Groundnut oil for frying

• In a cocktail shaker or jug, mix the cocktail ingredients, and strain into two smart cocktail glasses

• Over a high heat, get a frying pan nice and hot with a splash of oil. Put the scallop halves in and fry for 40 seconds, then flip and fry for 15 seconds. Add the Tequila/Cointreau mix, shake the pan a bit, and allow the resulting cloud of boozy steam to catch fire (if it’s an electric ring or induction hob, you’ll need to light it with a creme brulee torch or a cigarette lighter or a match). It will burn for about 5 seconds. As soon as it goes out, put two scallop halves on each of two little plates, add the orange zest strips and any juices from the pan, and serve with the Maragitas on the side