Shrimp

Few foods inspire more culinary creativity than shrimp. You can cook shrimp just about any way you can think of, and thousands of ways have yet to be invented.

Louisiana shrimp are the standard of the world. They are caught in tremendous numbers from several species, with seasons so complicated that only fishermen seem to know exactly when they come and go. Anyway, shrimp stand up to freezing better than any other seafood, so they’re available almost all the time. (If you buy them frozen, thaw them in the refrigerator as slowly as possible.)