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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2009 21:23:55 GMT
Well, we have devoted quite a bit of space to "oysters, clams, oh my" and various other crustaceans, but let's see which are the favorites, least favorites and most often eaten.
1. favorite 2. least favorite 3. most often eaten
(and why)
As for myself:
1. crabs (they have the best flavor, as far as I am concerned) 2. lobsters (too tough and too expensive for what they are) 3. shrimp (readily available and never bad)
I'm sorry not to be able to expound on oysters and mussels, but I eat oysters too rarely, and even though I eat mussels often, it is mostly because they are just an easy choice here.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 13, 2009 21:52:47 GMT
Okay, this throws me into overdrive dithering.
1. crawfish, followed very closely by crab. Or maybe the other way around. Or maybe tied. Oysters would have to be placed very high up in the favorite rating, too. However, since I don't have frequent access to them in the shell here, I'll just stay with the other two. 2. lobsters, for exactly the reasons you mention. 3. shrimp and oysters. There is a Mexican seafood cocktail called Vuelve a la Vida which I eat as often as possible. It contains ceviche, octopus, shrimp, & oysters. Sometimes I get the Campechana instead, which is the same cocktail, but with any two of the available seafoods of your choice. Then, I choose oysters & shrimp.
note: Those are the local versions of those two dishes. They'll vary throughout Mexico.
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Post by cristina on Nov 13, 2009 22:55:08 GMT
Crab has my vote as a favorite, with mussels and clams right behind it. My least favorite is scallops, based strictly on a bad experience years ago. I eat shrimp most often, for the same reason as kerouac.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Nov 14, 2009 1:21:25 GMT
Bixa, you have never gotten ill from eating raw oysters in Mexico? If not, you are fortunate. Although I like oysters, I avoid them after a catastrophic episode involving raw oysters eaten in Tuxpan, Veracruz, in 1980. But there likely were other factors involved.
I forgot to mention that we do eat a lot of shrimp: peel and eat, al mojo de ajo, brocheta (skewered with sweet pepper, onio and bacon), as a coctel de camarones (although we usually get them mixed with pulpos (octopus), etc.
Tomorrow I'll cook a half kilo of shrimp in some vaguely Asian way, using ginger root and peppers both sweet and hot.
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Post by fumobici on Nov 14, 2009 2:19:32 GMT
1. Dungeness crab. Boiled in seawater and eaten with a nutcracker over newspapers or in enchiladas with tomatillo sauce are my favorite preps. Blue crab if you are on the Atlantic side is almost identical, either will suffice- rock, king or snow crab are poor substitutes.
2. Mussels. Preferably from Penn Cove nearby in their own broth with butter and garlic over linguini. I'm getting hungry.
3. Shrimp, but I'm not of the "never bad" school. There are superb shrimp/prawns all the way down to muddy, off tasting stuff I wouldn't throw into the compost pile. Local and fresh is generally well worth seeking out, around here that means spot prawns or white prawns from Puget Sound or Hood Canal. Just delicious. There's a million good ways to prepare shrimp but my favorites are a Hunan-Szechwan style stir fry or anchoring a seafood stew.
<edit> forgot the requested format by the time I scrolled down- these are obviously my preferences in descending order.
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 14, 2009 4:02:24 GMT
1. Crabs, any style. We only get two kinds here, mangrove or mud crabs and flowery or swimming crabs. I prefer the mud crabs. 2. Lobster. A bit overrated, not worth the price. 3. Freshwater or tiger prawns, squid (I prefer octopus but not available) and clams. Going back to Vietnam end of January
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 14, 2009 4:30:45 GMT
DonC ~~ 1980 was almost 30 years ago! I think people are a great deal more conscious about keeping certain foods chilled than they used to be.
The first time I had a vuelve a la vida was in hot, muggy Juchitan. I was hooked for life.
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Post by existentialcrisis on Nov 14, 2009 12:23:47 GMT
Favorite: Scallops. Runners up: Mussels, lobster, shrimp.
Least Favorite: I don't have one? Clams maybe... deep fried is over-done and steamed clams are alright, just not as tasty as mussels. I still love clams though, so saying they are my least favorite isn't saying much.
Most frequently: Shrimp. Easy to acquire, prepare and afford. Also love to eat them!
You'll notice crab is not on my list. This is simply because I haven't eaten enough crab to form an opinion on it. I'm sure it's wonderful, it's just that I've grown up on lobster which seems to have been more available or popular. But now I'm really thinking about catching up for some lost time with crab...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2009 19:59:00 GMT
tough call here: favorite:crab,bay scallops real close second(flavor) least:mussels(have been violently ill from 2x) most often:shrimp(availability,versatility and price)
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Post by existentialcrisis on Nov 17, 2009 8:28:11 GMT
Seems like lots of people have had food poisoning from shellfish... I have never had, nor know anyone who has had this problem. I know it's more common with the single valve organisms (oysters, mussels), but I thought mussels were pretty much safe as long as the shells weren't closed? The majority of food poisonings from seafood are from oysters, perhaps another reason I haven't tried them fresh (raw) yet...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2009 8:39:45 GMT
I was off scallops for about 10 years after getting sick after eating them (and I don't even know if the scallops were to blame).
I am happy to have them back on my menu again.
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Post by existentialcrisis on Nov 17, 2009 13:12:23 GMT
I don't think scallops are a single valve organism and I've seen people eat some sketchy raw ones thawed from frozen out on a counter all day... so I doubt it was the scallops. But glad to hear you're eating them again!
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Post by traveler63 on Nov 26, 2009 1:26:40 GMT
Ok. Here is mine:
1. Clams followed by any crab, Dungeness, Snow, Alaska King, mussels and oysters( hard to find in AZ). 2. Lobster with Shrimp, least because it is so readily available. 3. Shrimp, because it is so readily available.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Nov 29, 2009 18:53:34 GMT
DonC ~~ 1980 was almost 30 years ago! I think people are a great deal more conscious about keeping certain foods chilled than they used to be. The first time I had a vuelve a la vida was in hot, muggy Juchitan. I was hooked for life. Sorry for the belated response. None of the marisquerías I see here chill/ice their oysters. Enough reason for me not to eat them raw. I will eat seviche, though. Most recently was on a lancha (boat holding over 60 passengers) on Lake Pátzcuaro. I'd had serious doubts about that food, but it was o.k.
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Post by suzanneschuelke on Jan 21, 2010 22:13:20 GMT
I am one of the weirdos. I actively dislike shellfish. No allergies, no phobia; I just don't like. Not one of them. My classic line is that I don't like anything that lives on, in, or near the sea (when pressed to eat something I already know I dislike - otherwise no one cares).
I always thought that escargot was the only exception. Only recently did I learn that they are land snails.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2010 22:42:40 GMT
But they don't eat dead people like the underwater creatures!
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Post by fumobici on Jan 22, 2010 2:04:57 GMT
It's astonishing to me how good crabmeat tastes when one considers what they actually eat. We used to bait the crab pots with the most disgusting fetid stuff imaginable- the worse it was, the better they liked it. Cheap dogfood in the can, slightly opened and left in the sun until the stench could be detected a mile downwind was absolutely the best.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 22, 2010 16:31:02 GMT
Isn't that what all shellfish eat, and the reason that they're proscribed for people who keep kosher? I had a boyfriend who wouldn't even look at crab because of seeing a cousin who'd drowned pulled from the river. (not appropriate for a food thread, nor for the squeamish) I mentioned somewhere about fishing in the Audubon Park lagoons. Every once in a while we'd get a catfish that had a whiff of lion shit about it when it was gutted.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2010 22:28:44 GMT
I recently took care of a neighbors property and they just returned today. (these are the people I mentioned who left 3 AC's running,on purpose, the whole time they were gone!) Anyway,on the way back from Santa Fe,they had to drive the length of Texas,and picked up these beautiful shrimp for us as a gift.They are from an area of the Gulf not affected by the "spill". They are referred to as 'Texas Hoppers'. Aren't they gorgeous.? I am so excited,I can't begin to tell you!!
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Post by hwinpp on Aug 4, 2010 4:44:33 GMT
They look wonderful! What have you planned for them?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2010 10:52:43 GMT
They look wonderful! What have you planned for them? Thanks HW!! We have had quite a few of them already. I made a scampi dish the first night,then,I made a dish with some sauteed vegetables (peppers,onion,baby eggplant,and bok choi)in a curry sauce and served over rice. The remainder are in the freezer to keep for my husband's annual Thanksgiving Seafood Gumbo which I believe was the intent and agenda our friends had,as everyone has been despairing over the possibility it might not get made this year )
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Post by cigalechanta on Aug 6, 2010 2:23:29 GMT
I love oysters so much that I went out of my way in France to taste the oysters of Belon from their water. Mussels if served like they do at Les Vapeurs in Trouville, Normandy.
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Post by hwinpp on Aug 6, 2010 9:30:32 GMT
They look wonderful! What have you planned for them? Thanks HW!! We have had quite a few of them already. I made a scampi dish the first night,then,I made a dish with some sauteed vegetables (peppers,onion,baby eggplant,and bok choi)in a curry sauce and served over rice. The remainder are in the freezer to keep for my husband's annual Thanksgiving Seafood Gumbo which I believe was the intent and agenda our friends had,as everyone has been despairing over the possibility it might not get made this year ) Well, I hope you NOLAites do get to do the gumbo.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 7, 2010 1:36:07 GMT
I was going to reply to this thread, and then I lost it (was looking in On the Menu).
Anyway, those are beauties and SO fresh looking. I truly think that before the end of October that many of the La. seafood beds will be open again.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Aug 9, 2010 9:37:36 GMT
Recently while lunching with a friend at Mariscos La Güera in Pátzcuaro, our brave friend ordered an Ensalada de Mariscos, where he could choose 4 of the various shellfish products offered. He had a beautiful plate brought to him with two oysters n the half shell, two patas de mula, tiritas de pescado al limón, and I think shrimp. I have a photo of this dish, which was the most attractive and tempting I've ever seen at the restaurant. No; no shrimp. Anyway, I was sorely tempted to get one myself on the next visit, but I resisted. (Note that now Picasa Web Albums has an online photo editor, "Picnik", so that pics can be resized, etc. wthout having to alter the original, nor to have to download and re-upload the pic.)
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2010 11:04:59 GMT
I hope you're right Bixa,I am doubtful of the oyster beds coming back,being reopened anytime soon.
Anyway,Don C. please translate,what are the little guys in the photo,in the scallop,ridged half shell? That is one of the more delectable,appetizing looking seafood salads/plates I've ever seen. Where is the seafood from do you know? Ever been to Vera Cruz?
Thanks for the tip re:Picasa
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 9, 2010 15:01:37 GMT
I see the shrimp! The tail end of one is right next to the lime half on the right-hand side. There's another just right of the 12 o'clock position, and one more showing slightly under the first avocado slice on the left. Don Cuevas, if you could see your way clear to posting about Picnik here: anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=4351&page=1#87247 it would be a great help. Many people may have bypassed Picasa because previously pictures from there wouldn't post here.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2010 15:11:58 GMT
I have always used Picasa and never had a problem with pictures not posting on here.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 9, 2010 15:47:11 GMT
It was Kodak Gallery that wouldn't post here, not Picasa. My mistake.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Aug 10, 2010 10:26:59 GMT
I hope you're right Bixa,I am doubtful of the oyster beds coming back,being reopened anytime soon. Anyway,Don C. please translate,what are the little guys in the photo,in the scallop,ridged half shell? That is one of the more delectable,appetizing looking seafood salads/plates I've ever seen. Where is the seafood from do you know? Ever been to Vera Cruz? Thanks for the tip re:PicasaCasi, the ridged shell guys are pata de mula, I think. I think the seafood is from Pacific waters, but I don't know that for sure. We've not been to Vera Cruz but we did get to Xalapa, the state capital, back in January, 94. I've barely used Picnik, especially on our slow Internet connection. Needs further experimentation and practice.
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