Coquille St Jacques or pecten maximus to you and I is celebrated in many locations in France, particularly in Normandy and Brittany. It’s the latter that has me in a state of culinary excitement. Next April the festival of the coquille St. Jacques will be celebrated in Erquy, a lovely little coastal town in Brittany’s Cotes D’Armor. The Erquy port is probably the premier Breton port for coquille Saint-Jacques fisherman. These fisherman take to the waters between November and April and fish on the bottom of the baie de Saint-Brieuc.  Every year, 1500 tons of scallops are unloaded on the docs, weighed and auctioned off. 
Now that you are geographically situated to my general neck of the woods, I have had the opportunity of tasting this fine dish at two outstanding restaurants. The first at the well known Restaurant “La Mère Poulard” at the Mont Saint Michel and the meal comes with a breathtaking view of the bay and a fine selection of wines to fully enjoy this meal. They say that the Mont Saint Michel is in Normandy but ask many self respecting die hard Bretons and they might tell you that in fact it’s in Brittany. I won’t labor you with the history and the tides relative to this subject. The second restaurant was officially in Brittany and I have had some fine coquilles courtesy of A La Duchesse Anne in St. Malot, Cité Corsaire.  Here they are made with a delightful little touch of muscadet. Perhaps what is more delightful is a late lunch at the Duchesse Anne on a still warm, late September afternoon then work off that wonderful meal with a little tour in town or a walk on the ramparts. By end of September a lot of the annoying tourists are gone but some can still be found.  
A quick note. Clever foodies have noted that Coquilles Saint Jacques could be less ceremoniously called “Scallops In Sauce Parisienne.” Sauce Parisienne is the same as Sauce Allemande but you won’t find me calling it by either one of those names. It is what it is. I like to think of Coquilles Saint-Jacques as scallops on display in a rich mixture of butter, cream, mushrooms and Parmesan cheese, and baked in a scallop shell.

Ingredients
serves 4
(adapted from Mastering The Art Of French Cooking by Julia Childs, Bertholle & Beck)
6 big scallops
100 gr (3 oz) mushrooms
30 gr (1 oz) butter + a few thin pads of butter added at the end (should you have some  beurre d’Isigny lying around in the pantry, please use that)
1/2 cup dry white wine (125 ml)
2 Tablespoons + 1 drop olive oil
1 big shallot minced (2 tbl)
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup whole milk
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Squeeze of lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon butter (1-1/2 teaspoons)
4 tablespoons grated Gruyère or Swiss cheese
4 scallop shells or ramekins of 1/3 cup capacity
Sprigs of fresh herbs for garnish: tarragon or flat-leaf parsley

Preparation
Simmer the bay leaf, tarragon, salt and pepper in the wine for 5 minutes. Add the scallops, mushrooms and enough water to barely cover them.

Bring to a simmer, cover and simmer slowly for 5 minutes. Remove scallops and mushrooms with a slotted spoon and set aside.   

Reduce the cooking liquid to one cup by rapidly boiling. While the liquid is reducing, whisk the egg yolks and cream in a bowl.

In a separate saucepan, cook the butter and flour slowly for two minutes. Add the shallots.

Remove from heat; add the cooking liquid and blend; then add the milk, stirring to blend into a smooth sauce. Return to heat and boil for one minute.

Beat the sauce from the pan into the egg yolk mixture, by driblets. Return to pan and boil, stirring, for 1 minute. Add a tablespoon of Muscadet. Thin with cream if necessary. Season to taste with salt, pepper and a few drops of lemon juice. Strain.

Blend 2/3 of the sauce with the scallops and mushrooms.

Butter the shells or ramekins; spoon in the scallop mixture and cover with the rest of the sauce. Sprinkle with cheese and dot with butter. Arrange shells on a broiling pan.

The recipe can be prepared up to this point. Fifteen minutes before serving, set the scallops 8 to 9 inches beneath a moderately hot broiler to heat through gradually, and to brown the top of the sauce. Serve immediately with some basmati rice or some thin linguine pasta along with some peas will nicely dress each plate.