The Press Democrat: Sea urchin increasingly found on Sonoma County restaurant menus
A sea urchin is a study in contradictions: tenacious and spiky on the outside, vulnerable and velvety on the inside. With a beauty both fragile and fierce, it can burrow for decades into rock, but die from the tiniest crack in its brittle shell.
As an ingredient, sea urchin is a flavor bomb that’s sweet and briny, custardy and ambrosial, summoning the taste of both earth and sea in every bite. The name “urchin” comes from the medieval name for “hedgehog.”