Ending lobster phobia and other seafood goals
I've eaten lobster once. It was at a fondue place and the lobster, you might say, was naked. Nothing about it looked like lobster - shell was gone, no claws, no tail, just hunks of meat. It was fabulous, and I want it again - except I have a lifelong aversion to seafood.
(that in itself is a long story and relates to Jacques Cousteau in 6th grade, but suffice to say it's less the taste than the looks or concept of seafood that bother me).
Braving cooking expeditions involving live lobsters, removing shells, or in any way associating with something that really looks like a lobster may defeat me. That said, I think that if I take in in small steps of taste and simple preparations, I could eventually overcome my aversion. Are there ways to purchase or cook lobster in baby steps? Frozen meat, shelled lobster, parts of lobster...etc? (this is silly and embarassing question, but remember that I've avoided grocery seafood sections like the plague).
I'd like to similarly be able to approach other "scary" seafoods like crab, mussels, shrimp and clams - any recommendations for easy acquisition or less than terrifying preparation?
(apologies for two posts in a row, I attempted this one yesterday and crashed).
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14 Comments:
xaire, there are multiple forms of lobster and crab, usually either in cans, jars -- or frozen. but nothing beats the freshest ones that still taste of salt water.
i personally can't cook them, but they sure do taste good.
pooch at 9:47PM on 08/20/08
I want my boyfriend to be brave like you and at least attempt to eat seafood. You can definitely find frozen in your supermarket. Good luck! It tastes delicious.
agk685 at 9:49PM on 08/20/08
ask your local butcher. they may cook and clean them for you- many do. I remember when WALMART had lobster tanks! of course they had real butchers back then (am i old?). But many local guys will do it. You can try frozen as well but i hate the canned kinds but to get your feet wet it is worth it to try other things out.
love2cook at 9:53PM on 08/20/08
First of all, kudos to you for being willing to try seafood, especially those varieties deemed "scary" to eat. I wish my SO was so willing!
But I agree with pooch; nothing beats fresh. While you might be tempted to try frozen, canned, jarred or otherwise altered forms, I really recommend, at least for your first "taste" of these items, that you try them in their purest, freshest form.
Perhaps a friend can help you out by steaming some fresh specimens and showing you how to crack or extract them. There's nothing like it. If you started off trying out less-than-stellar examples, your take on them might not be so good.
Like my aforementioned SO, who was raised on canned asparagus. Consequently, he hated asparagus for most of his adult life, until he had freshly steamed asparagus that wasn't reduced to a pile of yellow/green mush.
Never mind that certain portions of lobster and crab resemble that kind of yellow/green mush, but that'll be for your Advanced Class!
Go forth, explore, and enjoy!
hungryinhouston at 10:54PM on 08/20/08
African lobsters are pretty much just harvested for the tails, so you'll find just the tail portion of those at many markets. Less scary than the whole thing.
Shrimp, unless you are lucky enough to live where they're sold fresh, are usually just the tail portion, and you can often find them with the shells off. That might be a reasonable place to start, too, if you want something smaller and cheaper. And you can also find it cooked, so you could eat it cold in a salad or shrimp cocktail, or use it in something where you're just warming it at the end, like a quick pasta. Cooked shrimp might be less weird than the raw stuff, if that's an issue.
Sometimes you can also find claw meat or other cleaned and shelled versions.
dbcurrie at 11:59PM on 08/20/08
Hey love2cook, the Wal-Mart Supercenters here in Southern California (and Arizona- I lived there for a year recently) still have lobster tanks! There is no butcher in sight, but there is a seafood counter where you can interact with a real human, though the seafood pickin's are very slim and unfavorable looking.
But anyways, about the post:
I too am terrified of lobster. I'm afraid of making a fool of myself publicly trying to rip one apart, I'm afraid to drop one in boiling water- I'm just afraid, period.
I love sea food though, I'm just nervous about preparing it. I think scallops would be a good place to start. They're pricey, but I think it's pretty hard to mess up searing a scallop.
PumpkinBear at 12:19AM on 08/21/08
I've bought just the frozen tails at upscale supermarkets and have been mostly pleased - once one of them was just not as tasty as the other, but I've had this in restaurants, too.
I've loved lobster since I was 7, but it's just now at 30 that I don't have to ask the waiter to take the shell away (or have my very patient hubby hide it in the bread basket) before I can eat. You'll get there too!
For clams and mussels, I would develop at taste for them in restaurants first by ordering dishes that have them already out of their shells (like frutti di mare) there's usually one still its shell as garnish, but that's what the bread basket is for :-)
cowprintrabbit at 4:52AM on 08/21/08
I grew up cooking lobster, even though I can't eat it. (worked a year on a cousin's lobster boat) Just dont do what an old boyfriend and I did, we bought 2 beautiful live lobsters for a special occasion feast, and then in a fit of conciousness we drove them to the beach, pulled off the bands on the claws and released them. my only excuse, was it was the early 80's we drank too much wine, and my nephew pointed out how cute their little eyes were. :-(
huneybumper at 7:25AM on 08/21/08
Lobster tail is a good place to start. You can buy them at the grocery store, and the shell is usually pre-cut, so you don't even really have to work at it.
Also, in the seafood section, they sell some higher quality jumbo lump or claw crabmeat in plastic containers. You might like to try a crab cake recipe.
Kerosena at 11:20AM on 08/21/08
Hurray! Thank you everyone! I made a trip to the store tonight and took my first sea food steps (frozen peeled shrimp and some frozen lobster meat). I am so excited, I can barely decide what to cook!
xaire at 5:51PM on 08/21/08
I was always freaked out by mussels but my boyfriend got me to try them and they're wonderful! Just take your piercing fork, grab the meat and enjoy! Close your eyes if you have to!
Chew on That at 11:51AM on 08/22/08
@xaire - kudos to you for trying! Just remember one thing - seafood doen't need much cooking time, it's very easy to overcook it really fast and then it becomes tasteless rubber - and that, as Alton Brown says, is not good eats. I always brine shrimp, no matter how I cook them later - minimal effort that will result in juicy, plump shrimp every time. The brine is very simple - for 1-2 lbs of shrimp, dissolve 1/4 cup kosher salt and 1/4 cup sugar in 1 gallon of water (I actually use less water and add a cup of ice, since you want it ice-cold) - brine the shrimp for an hour, in the fridge, them discard the brine and cook the shrimp in whatever way strikes your fancy. Good luck and have fun!
brooke29 at 12:06PM on 08/22/08
Good for you for trying!
Go slow--it took me many years to get to the point where I enjoy seafood.
When you're ready:
There's a way to get a lobster to 'go to sleep' calmly--stand him or her on it's head on your counter and gently coax the claws together so it is balance (sort of a pyramid or v--shaped formation. The beast will calm down and rest quietly. This seems to make doing the 'plunge' a bit easier.
Good luck!
beano at 3:27PM on 08/22/08
I know I'm one of the few who just doesn't really dig lobster. It's not that I think it tastes bad, it just isn't something I would go out of my way for.
Mussels...ah...there's a story. After a horrendous mussel incident when I was 13, I wouldn't even think of eating one. Let's just say it involved the necessity of throwing away a suitcase. Now, I love them. To me, they are about the easiest seafood to prepare. For the sweetest, look for P.E.I. (Prince Edward Island) mussels in season. Bring them home, scrub the shells and pull off the beards, and steam them for a few minutes. Discard any that don't open. The meat comes out very easily. There are so many options for steaming broths - butter, wine and garlic, tomato...google "recipes for mussels" and take you pick or mix and match to make something that appeals to your buds.
I have no aversion to buying shrimp in the shell and cleaning them myself - takes a little time, but is well worth it in the end. One of our favorites is to make a sauce of 1/2 butter, 1/2 olive oil, garlic, basil, pepper and a pinch of salt. Add the shrimp last - toss it all with angel hair. Sometimes I might get a little froggy and add some fresh lemon juice!
thewrighttaste at 11:04PM on 08/22/08