On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 429

massive cephalothorax As a crustacean grows, it must periodically cast off the old cuticle and create a larger new one This process is called molting The animal constructs a new, flexible cuticle under the old one from its body’s protein and energy reserves It squeezes its shrunken body through weakened joints in the old shell, then pumps up itself with water — from 50 to 100% of its original weight — to stretch the new cuticle to its maximum volume It then hardens the new cuticle by cross-linking and mineralizing it, and gradually replaces its body water with muscle and other tissues Molting means that the quality of crustacean flesh is highly variable, and this is why wild harvests are seasonal, with the seasons depending on the particular animal and location An actively growing animal has dense, abundant muscle, while an animal preparing to molt loses muscle and liver mass, and a newly molted animal may be as much water as muscle Crustacean Color Crustacean shells and eggs provide some of the table’s most vivid colors They are generally a dark green-blue-redbrown that helps them blend in with the sea bottom, but turn a bright orange-red when cooked The animals create their protective coloration by attaching bright carotenoid pigments derived from their planktonic diet (astaxanthin, canthaxanthin, beta-carotene and others) to protein molecules, thus muting and altering their color Cooking denatures the proteins and frees the carotenoids to reveal their own true colors The shells of lobsters, crayfish, and some crabs are often cooked to extract both flavor and color for sauces (the French sauce Nantua), soups, and aspics Because carotenoid pigments are much more soluble in fat than in water, more color will be extracted if the cooking liquid is mainly fat or oil — ... others) to protein molecules, thus muting and altering their color Cooking denatures the proteins and frees the carotenoids to reveal their own true colors The shells of lobsters, crayfish, and some crabs are often cooked to extract both flavor... cooked The animals create their protective coloration by attaching bright carotenoid pigments derived from their planktonic diet (astaxanthin, canthaxanthin, beta-carotene and others) to protein molecules, thus muting and. .. Crustacean Color Crustacean shells and eggs provide some of the table’s most vivid colors They are generally a dark green-blue-redbrown that helps them blend in with the sea bottom, but turn a bright orange-red when cooked The