Coquilles Saint-Jacques au Champagne

And so we end the year with an ultra French, ultra elegant starter of sea scallops in Champagne sauce to grace your table during the festive season. The scallops are sautéed in butter, deglazed with Champagne, bathed in a creamy, buttery Champagne sauce and decorated with fresh herbs. The amount of Champagne needed is equivalent to about one flute, so you can serve the rest of the bottle to your guests to get the festivities off to a merry start.

Coquilles Saint-Jacques au Champagne / Sea scallops in Champagne sauce

This starter is rich, no doubt about it, so a portion of three sea scallops per person is an elegant sufficiency, as my Grandma Anne used to say. I can virtually guarantee that your guests will ask for more. Best to stop at three, however, as more treats are likely to follow. (See the Holiday Menus page for suggestions). I may serve this dish as the kick-off to this year’s Christmas lunch. It would work equally well on New Year’s Eve. And another possibility would be to serve the sea scallops one to a small glass (verrine) at cocktail hour.

While making this recipe — which, by the way, takes only 15 minutes — I wondered why sea scallops bear the name of Saint-Jacques (St. James) in French. It turns out to be linked to the Way of St. James, a major pilgrimage route to the Spanish holy city of Santiago de Compostela (Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle), where the remains of James the Apostle are thought to be buried. In the Middle Ages, the pilgrims are said to have decorated their clothing with empty scallop shells, which they used to drink, eat and beg. Mystery solved.

If, like me, you’re a big fan of sea scallops, you can check out three recipes posted previously on this site — sautéed in sweet wine, pan-seared with chanterelles and Brittany style (dusted with flour and sautéed in butter). As sea scallops are in season at the moment, this is a very good time to try them out. And (shh!) if fresh sea scallops are not available where you live, all of these recipes may be made with defrosted frozen scallops.

And so, my friends, I leave you with my very best wishes for a joyful and delicious holiday season. We certainly live in interesting times. Let us hope that 2025 will surprise us all with peace on earth and goodwill toward men and women everywhere.

Happy cooking.