Breton Scallops with Bordier Buckwheat Butter

Buckwheat butter turns a dozen scallops into the most Breton thing you can put on a table. This is Maison Bordier's own version of coquilles Saint-Jacques: scallops piled back into their shells, shaved with buckwheat butter, scattered with browned Guémené andouille, then baked and broiled. The oven work takes minutes, so almost all the effort is shucking and prep. Have country bread ready, because the butter that pools in the shells is the part everyone fights over.

At a glance

Difficulty: Medium
Serves: 4
Active time: About 30 minutes for shucking and prep (our estimate, Bordier does not state one)
Cook: 3 minutes in the oven, then 2 to 3 minutes under the broiler
Key ingredient: Bordier Buckwheat Butter

Why this works

Bordier's buckwheat butter arrived in 2016, suggested by a Breton chef who wanted to see two Breton staples in one place: cream from the pastures and roasted buckwheat from the fields. Toasted buckwheat is nutty and faintly savory, closer to browned grain than to anything sweet, and it gives the butter a background note that reads as toasted bread rather than as a flavoring. Against scallops, which are sweet and delicate, that toastiness does the job a browned crumb topping usually does, without any crumbs.

The technique is built around speed. Scallops overcook in seconds, so the butter is shaved on cold and the shells go into a very hot oven for a matter of minutes. As the shavings melt, they baste the scallops from above and hold in the moisture, while the broiler colors the surface. The andouille is the counterweight: half of it is fried into crisp chips for garnish, half is browned and scattered over the shells, so every bite has smoke and salt behind the sweetness of the shellfish.

Ingredients

Four servings. Bordier lists the ingredients loosely, so the amounts below are exactly what the recipe specifies, with US equivalents added.

Ingredient	Metric	US
Whole scallops, in the shell	12	12
Guémené andouille	8 medium slices	8 medium slices
Bordier Buckwheat Butter	125 g	4.4 oz, about 1/2 cup, 1 block
Pepper	To taste	To taste

Method

Step 1: Shuck and build the shells

Shuck all 12 scallops, leaving the white meat attached inside four of the shells. Wipe everything dry so no excess moisture is left. Into each of those four shells, add two more scallops, so you end up with four loaded shells of three scallops each. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Cut eight medium slices from the Guémené andouille and chop half of them coarsely. Set both aside.

Step 2: Heat the oven and butter the shells

Heat the oven to 220°C / 425°F. Shave the Bordier buckwheat butter over each loaded shell. Fry the whole andouille slices, turning them carefully, until you have four toasted andouille chips. Then gently brown the chopped andouille in the same pan.

Step 3: Bake, then broil

Scatter the browned chopped andouille over the shells and bake for 3 minutes. Switch on the broiler, move the dish up closer to the element, and give it only 2 to 3 minutes so the scallops do not overcook. Do not add salt. Pepper the scallops instead.

Step 4: Finish and serve

Stand one andouille chip vertically in each shell and bring them to the table straight away, with country bread for the butter left in the shells. Bordier's warning is worth repeating: it is addictive. A very dry cider or a Petit Chablis is the house pairing.

Tips from our kitchen

Dry scallops, every time. Bordier says to wipe away all excess moisture, and that instruction is doing real work. Water on the surface turns to steam under the broiler and you get pale, poached scallops instead of colored ones. Pat them dry, then pat them again just before the butter goes on.
About that oven temperature. The source page prints "220°C/425°C", which is a typo: 220°C is 425°F, and that is the setting we use. Get the oven fully up to heat before the shells go in, because 3 minutes leaves no time to recover.
Shave the butter cold. Take it straight from the fridge and pull shavings off the block with a vegetable peeler or the edge of a knife. Cold shavings melt down through the bake and baste the scallops. Softened butter slides off and pools before it can do anything useful.
Stand by the broiler. Two to three minutes is the whole window. Scallops go from just set to rubbery in well under a minute, so watch them through the door rather than setting a timer and walking away.
If you cannot find Guémené andouille. This Breton smoked chitterling sausage is hard to source in the US. A coarse, heavily smoked dry sausage will give you the same salt and smoke, though not the same texture. Slice it thin so it crisps in the pan.
Buying shucked scallops. If your fishmonger sells them out of the shell, you can build the recipe in four small gratin dishes instead. You will lose the presentation but nothing else, and cleaned scallop shells are worth asking for at the counter.

How to serve it

This is a first course for four, or the opening of a longer seafood dinner. Serve the shells hot in a shallow dish so nothing tips, with a basket of country bread on the table and the dry cider already poured. Because the recipe finishes so fast, it works best as the thing you make once everyone has arrived rather than something you hold in a warm oven. If you want to build a full Breton spread around it, the rest of our French churned butter collection gives you plenty to put alongside the bread.

Where to buy Bordier Buckwheat Butter in the US

The French Pantry ships Bordier butter across the United States in insulated overnight packaging, straight from the workshop in Brittany.

Churned Buckwheat Butter by Bordier (4.4 oz): roasted Breton buckwheat folded into hand-churned butter, nutty and toasty rather than sweet.

If you want to try the rest of the range alongside it, browse the Maison Bordier collection.

Frequently asked questions

How much Bordier buckwheat butter do I need for this recipe?

Exactly one block. The recipe calls for 125 g, and Bordier blocks are 4.4 oz / 125 g, so a single block covers all four shells with nothing left over. Buy two if you want butter for the bread as well.

Can I use a different Bordier butter instead?

Yes. Seaweed butter is the obvious alternative with shellfish and gives you an iodised, marine note in place of the toasted grain. Salted butter is the neutral choice if you want the scallops and andouille to carry the dish on their own.

Why does the recipe tell me not to add salt?

The andouille is cured and brings plenty of salt of its own, and it is scattered over every shell. Bordier's instruction is to pepper the scallops and leave the salt alone. Taste before you reach for the salt cellar at the table.

How should I store Bordier butter?

Keep it wrapped and refrigerated, and take out only what you need. If you have half a block left, press the paper back against the cut face so the surface does not dry out. Bordier butter also freezes well if you are not using it within a week or so.

Does Bordier butter need to be refrigerated?

Yes. Bordier butter is a fresh, hand-churned product and ships cold. Move it to the refrigerator as soon as it arrives, and let it sit out only for the few minutes it takes to shave or spread.

Is the buckwheat butter salted?

Bordier's buckwheat butter is made with roasted buckwheat and reads as toasty and nutty rather than sharply salty. Since the andouille is doing the seasoning here, that balance works in your favor.