Ina Garten's Clever Tip For Buying Better Quality Shrimp At The Grocery Store

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While perfecting the art of specialty foods at her (now closed) shop in the Hamptons, Ina Garten amassed a wealth of high-end food knowledge and established her signature effortless entertaining style. The good news is that Garten continues to lavishly dole out her expertise while making each of us feel welcome in her home and kitchen. From this happy and inviting perch, she shares food insights, including how to shop for top-shelf shrimp.

In her cookbook, "Cook Like a Pro," Garten advises ordering shrimp by the count per pound, rather than being guided by arbitrary labels like large or jumbo. Shrimp cocktail is one of her many, many go-to moves, and, of course, her shrimp cocktail is anything but basic. True to her casual luxe brand, Garten is all about elevating classic dishes. Beyond buying the best fish, the Barefoot Contessa sets her shrimp cocktail apart by roasting the shrimp rather than boiling them.

Garten spent the better part of two decades at the helm of Barefoot Contessa, ultimately assuming the East Hampton shop name as her own moniker. She is a certified aficionado of high-quality ingredients and knows firsthand how never skimping on products enables you to make and serve beautiful food. By looking for shrimp with a lower count per pound (the fewer in a package, the more sizeable each will be), you are armed with a more consistent purchasing strategy than relying on terms that can vary from store to store. Ultimately, this ensures you always end up with enviable and tempting shrimp to prepare and share.

Buying choice fresh proteins like shrimp and other seafood also goes beyond mere enjoyment to issues of food integrity. Although shrimp may be labeled fresh at the seafood counter, they may have been previously frozen and thawed. Check with the fishmonger, as it may actually be a mistake to buy fresh shrimp from the grocery store — you could end up with shrimp that's been previously frozen or is past peak freshness. Just be sure to buy bags where each shrimp looks individually frozen and avoid packages with freezer burn or large clumps of frozen shrimp — which indicates the shrimp may have partially thawed and refrozen. Armed with your top-tier shrimp, you are primed for everything from a memorable Garten-approved shrimp cocktail to the Barefoot Contessa's baked shrimp scampi.