butter, for example — or contains some Crustacean Texture Like fish flesh, most crustacean flesh consists of white, fast muscle fibers (p 131) Its connective-tissue collagen is both more abundant than fish collagen and less easily dissolved by heat, so crustacean meat is less delicate and easily dried out than fish But the protein-breaking enzymes in the muscle are very active, and can turn the meat mushy if they aren’t rapidly inactivated by the heat of cooking These enzymes work fastest when the temperature hits 130–140ºF/55– 60ºC, so the cook should either heat the flesh well above this range as quickly as possible, or get it just into this range (for maximum moistness) and then serve it immediately Boiling and steaming are the most rapid heating methods, and the usual treatments for shrimp, lobster, and crab Food Words: Shrimp, Prawn, Crab, Crayfish, Lobster, Crustacean Most of our words for crustaceans go back to prehistoric times Shrimp comes from the Indo-European root skerbh, meaning to turn, bend, or shrink, perhaps reflecting the curled shape of these creatures The nearsynonym prawn first appears in medieval times, and its origins are unknown Crab a n d crayfish both derive from the IndoEuropean gerbh, meaning to scratch or carve, something that crustacean claws readily to human skin Finally, lobster shares with locust the Indo-European root lek, meaning to leap or fly: a remarkably early recognition of the family resemblance of crustaceans and insects Crustacean itself comes from an IndoEuropean root meaning to freeze, to form a crust, and describes the hard outer skeleton of these creatures It shares this root with crystal Crustacean texture is also more tolerant of freezing than most fish; frozen shrimp in ... Finally, lobster shares with locust the Indo-European root lek, meaning to leap or fly: a remarkably early recognition of the family resemblance of crustaceans and insects Crustacean itself comes... IndoEuropean root meaning to freeze, to form a crust, and describes the hard outer skeleton of these creatures It shares this root with crystal Crustacean texture is also more tolerant of freezing than most fish; frozen shrimp in...Most of our words for crustaceans go back to prehistoric times Shrimp comes from the Indo-European root skerbh, meaning to turn, bend, or shrink, perhaps reflecting the curled shape of these