A white sport coat & a pink crustacean
Dec 25, 2011 17:59:08 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Dec 25, 2011 17:59:08 GMT
A stolen subject heading, but too good to pass up. ;D
This thread is in response to questions that re-arose after Tod2 posted this lovely progression of her Christmas dinner. In a subsequent post, she referred to these beauties as crayfish.
Tod,those crustaceans in your pics,are those what you are referring to as crayfish??? They look awfully huge!!! I am accustomed to the smaller variety. Where are they from do you know?? My curiosity is super piqued. 
Casimira - Gosh honeybun, I really don't know the true answer about WHERE those humongous crayfish came from, but I suspect they are straight out of the Indian Ocean just off-shore on our Natal coastline. We have numerous rockpools and rocks just off-shore which the fishermen dive down to and retrieve them from their lairs under the rocks.
I say this because the owner of the fish supply in the very large supermarket is in contact with many ski-boat fishermen who supply him with the freshest linefish for his fish counter. I have bought some awesome ocean fish from him but they are not cheap and you have to buy the whole fish!
Crayfish are not allowed to be caught and taken if they are under a certain size. Every single one has to be measured with a specific measuring tool and thrown back if too small - this does not mean that some fishermen actually do! The bigger the crayfish, the tougher the meat so small is best.
Ours were of a medium size and perfect. You get crayfish much much larger, but I would only use that size for a table decoration and most likely curry the tougher flesh.
Thanks for that Tod.
I guess it must be a regional colloquial semantic type thing. I suspect that Bixa may know more about this being the Crawfish Queen that she is.
What I see in the pics is what we would refer to as "rock lobsters". (Not to be confused with the B52's song btw...
;D).
Now of course that kicked my compulsive nature into overdrive, since I knew there had been a previous discussion on this subject.
Here are the results of my search for that discussion, and now we have a thread devoted entirely to our succulent many-legged friends. Do with it what you will!
... I had to go pick up the crawfish I ordered last Friday. ...
... the prawns al mojo were superb, the best I've ever eaten.
... DonC -- those are prawns?! They suuuuure look like crawfish to me. They're definitely the same things that I bought as crawfish last week. The ones I had tasted like crawfish, but not as good as the ones I'm used to.
Bear in mind that I've never really known was a prawn was, other than it's some kind of shrimp, right?
...We're only prawns in the game...
They looked mighty prawnish to me, Bixa. Here's a bottomside shot:
Still looks like a crawfish to me, & a nice big one at that. Wuddooayeno? Are prawns from the ocean? ...
Prawns can be from fresh or salt water. Their shells are thinner than crawfish shells and easier to remove. Also they don't always have claws.
The difference to me: Shrimps or very teeny and mostly used in Potted Shrimps or shrimp cocktail.
Prawns come in about 6 different sizes - some twice the size of a shrimp and
measuring up to 2-3 inches and referred to as "Prince prawns".
Then 4 inches are Queen Prawns, and then 5/6inches are King Prawns which I
think were the size of Don's prawn dish.
THEN, we start talking really big buggers! The next size up of about 8-12inches
are called Tiger Prawns. These may seem fantastic but in reality they are a bit
chewy and I compare the difference with Mutton and Lamb in toughness.
Then along comes the best of the best - Langoustines! The shell is very hard just like a crawfish and they have very long claws, but the meat is succulent and tasty. Sizewise about the same as a King Prawn.
Now, the larger Crayfish: Very hard dark shell, no claws, and near to it's US cousin the Lobster.
I had 'Yabbies" in Autralia and likened them to langoustines in texture and taste. The main difference being lango's are saltwater creatures and Yabbies live in rivers and streams.
I could be wrong about the foreign ones and welcome the correct description
Prawns can be from fresh or salt water. Their [highlight=Yellow]shells are thinner than crawfish shells[/highlight] and easier to remove. Also [highlight=Yellow]they don't always have claws[/highlight].
Ah-ha! So those wimpy crawfish I had were actually prawns, then. And DonC is indeed showing prawns in his pics.
They sure look like crawfish, though:
Shrimp:
Tod, you have moved into a whole different area of terminology for me. I think some of your terms might be specific to your area. Shrimp, as far as I know, come in every size from teensy to quite big.
That's exactly what I'd call them too.
We would call the prawns in the man's hand "Queen Prawns" - King would be one or two 'segments' longer. I am sure Hwinpp sees Tiger prawns all the time. They even have stripes!
tinyurl.com/3m4terg
I opened my "Cookery Year" recipe book and noted that an illustration for Dublin Bay Prawns was exactly like a Langoustine. The Lobster photo showed enormous claws but the Crayfish had long 'feeler's but teeny little claws very close together.
I was trying to find a photo for a most unusal looking crustacean of a prawn/lobster/crayfish that has a wide flat head and is a dark greeny-grey colour (uncooked). I tasted one of these along with the 'Yabbies' while in Oz.
Wonder what it's called?
I believe it is Moreton Bay bugs or Balmain bugs you are talking about tod2. They are the same really just from a different state here.
To which HW replied:
Those are what I'd call a rock lobster...
This thread is in response to questions that re-arose after Tod2 posted this lovely progression of her Christmas dinner. In a subsequent post, she referred to these beauties as crayfish.
I say this because the owner of the fish supply in the very large supermarket is in contact with many ski-boat fishermen who supply him with the freshest linefish for his fish counter. I have bought some awesome ocean fish from him but they are not cheap and you have to buy the whole fish!
Crayfish are not allowed to be caught and taken if they are under a certain size. Every single one has to be measured with a specific measuring tool and thrown back if too small - this does not mean that some fishermen actually do! The bigger the crayfish, the tougher the meat so small is best.
Ours were of a medium size and perfect. You get crayfish much much larger, but I would only use that size for a table decoration and most likely curry the tougher flesh.
I guess it must be a regional colloquial semantic type thing. I suspect that Bixa may know more about this being the Crawfish Queen that she is.
What I see in the pics is what we would refer to as "rock lobsters". (Not to be confused with the B52's song btw...
;D).Now of course that kicked my compulsive nature into overdrive, since I knew there had been a previous discussion on this subject.
Here are the results of my search for that discussion, and now we have a thread devoted entirely to our succulent many-legged friends. Do with it what you will!
Bear in mind that I've never really known was a prawn was, other than it's some kind of shrimp, right?
They looked mighty prawnish to me, Bixa. Here's a bottomside shot:
Sept 2, 2011 7:44:08 GMT tod2 said:
hwinpp has given a very accurate description of a prawn - or a shrimp as it is called in the US.The difference to me: Shrimps or very teeny and mostly used in Potted Shrimps or shrimp cocktail.
Prawns come in about 6 different sizes - some twice the size of a shrimp and
measuring up to 2-3 inches and referred to as "Prince prawns".
Then 4 inches are Queen Prawns, and then 5/6inches are King Prawns which I
think were the size of Don's prawn dish.
THEN, we start talking really big buggers! The next size up of about 8-12inches
are called Tiger Prawns. These may seem fantastic but in reality they are a bit
chewy and I compare the difference with Mutton and Lamb in toughness.
Then along comes the best of the best - Langoustines! The shell is very hard just like a crawfish and they have very long claws, but the meat is succulent and tasty. Sizewise about the same as a King Prawn.
Now, the larger Crayfish: Very hard dark shell, no claws, and near to it's US cousin the Lobster.
I had 'Yabbies" in Autralia and likened them to langoustines in texture and taste. The main difference being lango's are saltwater creatures and Yabbies live in rivers and streams.
I could be wrong about the foreign ones and welcome the correct description
Ah-ha! So those wimpy crawfish I had were actually prawns, then. And DonC is indeed showing prawns in his pics.
They sure look like crawfish, though:
Shrimp:
Tod, you have moved into a whole different area of terminology for me. I think some of your terms might be specific to your area. Shrimp, as far as I know, come in every size from teensy to quite big.
tinyurl.com/3m4terg
Sept 4, 2011 8:16:17 GMT tod2 said:
Don - This thread could almost be termed "How long is your Langou(stine)?!!" The variety of crustaceans seems endless.I opened my "Cookery Year" recipe book and noted that an illustration for Dublin Bay Prawns was exactly like a Langoustine. The Lobster photo showed enormous claws but the Crayfish had long 'feeler's but teeny little claws very close together.
I was trying to find a photo for a most unusal looking crustacean of a prawn/lobster/crayfish that has a wide flat head and is a dark greeny-grey colour (uncooked). I tasted one of these along with the 'Yabbies' while in Oz.
Wonder what it's called?
I believe it is Moreton Bay bugs or Balmain bugs you are talking about tod2. They are the same really just from a different state here.
To which HW replied:
