Developing and Refining One's Sense of Taste - week 16

Shellfish night. Chef demonstrated how to prepare lobster bisque, crabcakes with cajun remoulade, shrimp cocktail with calypso sauce, squid salad, mussels mariniere, and scallops with citrus beurre blanc.

The class was asked to prepare mussels  mariniere and scallops with citrus beurre blanc.

What I learned

•  By definition crustaceans, bivalves and cephalopods are shellfish. Translation: shrmp, mussels/clams and squid are all shellfish.
• Much of the crab in the store is from the Philippines, Venezuela, and Vietnam
• Lobster bisque can be frozen as long as cream hasn't been added
• The French term for adding butter (as in adding butter to lobster bisque) is monte a beurre
• The ideal cooked mussel should be cooked until just opens. Cook them for about eight (8) minutes
• Wet scallops are less expensive than dry scallops
• Consider combining lobster roe and butter in a food processor to make a compound butter
• Don't eat the lobster stomach
• Calypso sauce is a mayonnaise based cocktail sauce

Observations

• Chef shared the  quote, Yesterday's plate is today's bait" with the class.
• We were told that some of the best mussels in the area are from Prince Edward Island. The mussels used in classes were from Rhode Island - the class found them to be delicious.
• Chef is convinced that female lobsters are wider in the hips than male lobsters. We only had one lobster in class (a male - no roe were present) so there was no way to see the difference or confirm Chef's statement.
• We learned that a lot of shrimp consumed in the U.S. comes from Thailand, Singapore and other nearby nations. In some cases the employees' working conditions was controversial - there is now an embargo
• Louisiana and Arkansas currently harvest blue crab
• Chef shared an update that blue crab is not almost extinct in Maryland

Self realization

• I now realize that  I know more about shellfish than I realized. Growing up, my mother took us (my sister and me) crabbing with her. I also learned how to clean shrimp - with the heads on and off.
• We didn't eat mussels growing up  although I did see mussels attached to the posts at docks. As an adult I have discovered I am allergic to mussels. I found out the hard way- look for an upcoming post on allergies and sensitivities
• While not presented in class, oyster are shellfish too. My mother loves oysters, unfortunately that gene was not passed to me. In the past year I did take a cooking class featuring oyster po'boys- one of my mother's favorite sandwiches.
• I covered for my head with a scarf before coming to class  this evening because my hair was wet and it was more appropriate to wear my head covered that come into a kitchen, much less a professional kitchen with wet hair. A person in class said I looked like Aunt Jemima.  While I am African-American  and overweight, I really don't think I look like Aunt Jemima. I think I look like my parents and a great deal like my maternal grandmother.  My response to the person was , "kiss my ass".  I suspect the comment was intended to be funny, but calling an African-American woman Aunt Jemima (unless that is her given name and you are her niece/nephew) is not a compliment - read here for more details. When the same person then referred to me as "Auntie" I pulled them to the side and asked them not to do so.
• While I wasn't born in Rhode Island, I spent most of my childhood in Rhode Island. It was a moment of pride when the class was informed they were eating mussels from Rhode Island. Go, little Rhody, go!

Overall, a good way to wrap up my birthday.

Next week: Pastry

Be well,
Technicolor girl