It's actually mostly size that's the issue. We don't like the shells but a lobster has a lot of meat for the amount of shell compared to a meal worm or pillbug which from what I hear taste just about the same as shellfish, just not as fishy.
I mean, if you don't know how to spell something, what are the odds that you learned the correct spelling between writing the top text and the bottom text but also decided not to go back and correct the top?
Yeah no meat and the texture is just so unsatisfying AND there isn't a good flavor there to try to amplify. It just tastes like a worse version of however you season it but with this added layer of poking, stringy, not easily chewable texture that just sucks to eat. If there was a way to make land bugs palatable to the average person it would have caught on centuries or millenia ago because there have been hungry people in every continent for a long time. Like people eat eyeballs and testicles regularly because they taste good and have good texture when done right, even if it might be abnormal to the average person.
I wish I could recall the reason for the change in attitude, but originally lobsters were viewed as a low class food, due to their (then) abundance. Deep fried lobster was a street food in early American cities. Then at some point the narrative flipped and they became this high priced meat of decadence.
Railroads and canning. Lobsters have to be killed shortly before eating, or they rot quickly. So people far from the coasts could never get them. Canning and railroads with refrigerated cars made it possible to transport lobster farther inland, but it was expensive.
Yeah most people don’t realize that lobster has a bacteria in it that starts spreading as soon as it’s dead. This is the reason they’re typically alive when boiled.
I can’t remember the exact mechanisms but something like, as soon as the lobsters immune system ceases to function the bacteria moves from the innards to the meat where the bacteria will produce a toxin.
Unlike the bacteria itself, the toxin cant be destroyed with heat.
All the tales of lobster as prison food are from the mid 1800s, the modern double seam can for food was invented in 1888, and the refrigerated train car was popularized in the 1890s.
There are a variety of ways but I was taught to put them in the freezer for a little bit to make them “sleep” and then put a knife through its brain. I think you can also use clove oil or something.
Some do and I think there's a growing push for more humane practices. But it is extremely common to just boil them alive. And of we look at crawfish, which are basically just small lobsters that get cooked in large batches, I've never heard of anyone bothering to kill all those little fuckers before boiling them.
You cook them dead and get straight tails and you will be praying to the porcelain gods. I’m actually curious of a way to more humanely kill a sack of crawfish that isn’t as taxing as eating them
Because they originally believed they needed to be boiled for an hour to be safe to eat. Not to surprising nobody wanted to eat them when the prevailing belief is turn it into something with the taste and texture of a bicycle tire
Right, I've eaten bugs and their taste is disgusting to me. There's something in them that leaves a very unpleasant aftertaste in my throat that doesn't go away with water. Seafood on the other hand is delicious af
Depends on the bug. I frequently eat ants and different species taste a bit different . Some taste like honey and some a bit spicy even. The texture is like rice crispy though. You can even steep some to make a drink.
You mean the sea arthropod? I don’t know why you read the word “bug” and your mind went to “crab” on a post comparing land arthropods and sea arthropods.
The difference is that Floridaman is almost a point of national pride so if someone says we eat swamp puppies, we won't say the person wasn't in America. We'll congratulate them for surviving Bubba's wetland adventure.
The ocean ones taste way better. Also, go to parts of Asia and if it moves and isn’t poisonous they eat it. Just part of having a long history where you eat what keeps you alive.
I’m pretty sure most people that hunt also fish. So I don’t know where you’re getting this split between the two.
Secondly, how is fishing humane? You drag something with a hook through its face, sometimes it swallows the hook and you’re ripping out its insides or watching it suffocate slowly so you can feel a sense of achievement…and then you either don’t eat it or throw it back. Fun for the whole family!
It’s just kinda funny you came to the conclusion hunting is cruel and fishing is innocent fun. They’re both the same thing. Fact is, humans have trouble feeling empathy for other living things in general. Especially the less “human” they are. Fish feeling pain has been a debate for a long time, though the evidence has always been there that, of course ,they do.
I don't get it either. My best guess is that it is easier to get to the meat of sea arthropods (<- correct spelling, BTW), whereas you pretty much just have to eat the whole thing when it comes to land arthropods.
Right? They're gooey, and it looks all dirt yellow. Meanwhile shrimps and lobsters are all red, so that I think is what makes it appealing. If they had yellowish meat, people would be disgusted.
Bugs are too tiny and they are usually dark colored, that makes it unappealing. I bet if they were bigger and meatier, and had more reddish blood, people would eat them
Jokes on you, I don't eat either. For that reason, they're the insects of the ocean. What else has 6 to 8 legs and it's skeleton is on the outside of its body?
Well most of asia will disagree bc those guy can whip some of the best bug delicacies on the planet. I would love to go try crickets, scorpions and ants the way the prepare them over there. It is absolutely fascinating to me.
Sea bugs come pre salted. Their bodies also work differently because of buoyancy in water vs just gravity on land which changes their structure and “meat.”
I have eaten a few types of land bugs and they generally taste mostly of the seasoning and aren’t much other than crunch. If I eat too many ants, the legs start freaking me out and stick in your teeth and gums worse than popcorn.
Not true, Western people are top left picture. The rest of the world eat both , except a few places which only eat land anthropods and no sea anthropods.
This is commonly brought up, but people gloss over the fact, that there is alsoa significant difference in taste between seafood and regular insects/ worms, with the former being significantly tastier. A roasted cockroach would just taste absolutely vile
I can confirm that rolly-polly when burnt smells like roasted chicken and they are not much different than some of the deep sea arthropods eaten in asia.
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u/Academic-Snow9642 1d ago
Easy. One has meat and the other has green mush