On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 426

shaping it, and boiling it until it solidifies Washing the mince removes nearly everything from the muscle except the muscle fiber membranes and contracting proteins Salting then dissolves the protein myosin out of the muscle fibers, so that when it’s heated, the myosin will coagulate into a continuous, solid, elastic gel in which the other fiber materials are embedded The result is a flavorless, colorless, homogeneous matrix that can be flavored, colored, and formed to imitate nearly any seafood Shellfish and Their Special Qualities Though shellfish have much in common with finfish and are cooked in many of the same ways, they’re also distinctive Most of the shellfish we eat are creatures from one of two groups, the crustaceans and the molluscs Unlike true fish, these creatures are invertebrates: they don’t have a backbone or internal skeleton; and most of them don’t swim much Their body tissues are therefore organized differently, undergo different kinds of seasonal changes, and require special treatment from the cook Crustaceans: Shrimps, Lobsters, Crabs, and Relatives Crustaceans are the shellfish that have legs and sometimes claws: shrimps and prawns, lobsters and crayfish, and crabs Like the molluscs, the crustaceans are an ancient and successful group of animals There were primitive shrimps 200 million years ago; today there are some 38,000 crustacean species, the largest with a claw span of 12 feet/4 meters! The crustaceans are members of the large animal group known as arthropods, and are relatives of the insects Like the insects, they have a body made up of several segments, a hard outer cuticle, or ...invertebrates: they don’t have a backbone or internal skeleton; and most of them don’t swim much Their body tissues are therefore organized differently, undergo different kinds of seasonal changes, and require special... species, the largest with a claw span of 12 feet/4 meters! The crustaceans are members of the large animal group known as arthropods, and are relatives of the insects Like the insects, they have a body made up of several segments, a hard outer cuticle, or... treatment from the cook Crustaceans: Shrimps, Lobsters, Crabs, and Relatives Crustaceans are the shellfish that have legs and sometimes claws: shrimps and prawns, lobsters and crayfish, and crabs Like the