Galera — mantis shrimp — was for decades the part of the catch that went into stock or went back over the side. Too much shell, too little meat, too awkward to eat in company.

What it does have is a fifteen-week window in spring when the females carry roe, and in those weeks the meat turns sweet in a way that no farmed prawn gets close to. Our boat, the Sant Jordi II, works the shallow ground off Sant Carles de la Ràpita and lands at six in the morning. We buy the whole box, roe or not.

The dish exists because Núria, our head chef, refused to accept that the difficulty was the fish's fault. Shelling galera at the table is unpleasant, so we shell it in the kitchen, press the heads and shells for the stock that becomes the emulsion, and send it out with nothing left to fight.