# Foods that take SO MUCH effort to eat **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 24, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-take-so-much-effort-to-eat/514922 "2009-10-24T00:40:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-take-so-much-effort-to-eat/514922/81 "2009-11-13T00:34:12Z")
I have to say, thanks to this thread, I’ve tried the whole shelling pumpkin seeds thing, and I’ve been converted. No more icky shells for me! ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-take-so-much-effort-to-eat/514922/82 "2009-11-13T01:58:37Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Pistachios. > > You can spend forever cracking those damned, addictive nuts open…not including the ones that WILL NOT OPEN! > > As a German friend told me, “You can starve to death trying to eat those…” I’m with you. One of my favorite quotes: When the Grateful Dead hit it big in 1987, Phil Lesh answered an interviewer asking about how the influx of cash had changed his life by saying “You know those occasional pistachios that are really hard to open? I just throw those ones away now.” ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-take-so-much-effort-to-eat/514922/83 "2009-11-13T03:53:21Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I had no idea people ate the shell and insides of pumpkin seeds together. And I had no idea that people actually shelled them. I’ve always just eaten the whole thing. (After roasting with a bit of butter and Old Bay seasoning.) I’ll throw another vote behind blue shell crabs. I love 'em, but they’re a pain to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Aankh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@Aankh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aankh)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-take-so-much-effort-to-eat/514922/84 "2009-11-13T04:39:58Z")
> [@Zjestika](#): > > Pomegranates. [QUOTE=norinew] I also heartily agree with pomegranates. Yeah, they taste good. But, IMHO, they are _so_ not worth the trouble! [/QUOTE] > [@appleciders](#): > > I love pomegranates on a long car trip. Takes frickin’ forever, which keeps me entertained. I love having something to do with my hands. > [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > One of my co-workers had her first ever pomegranate experience at lunch today. It was pretty hilarious. She gave up about halfway through. I’ve seen this time and again from people on the Dope. I have to ask now - what complicated method are you guys using? Because I grew up in a place where pomegranates were plentiful and pretty much everyone I knew used a very simple method of eating them. Cut into slices, kind of like an apple, with the leathery skin still on. Bend each slice backward so that the meaty bits stick out, and bite a big chunk off. Chew each mouthful _gently_ so that the meat is pierced and releases its juice, but the seeds don’t get ground down. Then swallow or spit out the seeds. Really only takes a couple minutes to polish down a pomegranate when done this way. If you’re picking off one teeny pod at a time, it’ll take a year. But a whole chunk chewed gently? Easy peasy, my friends. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-take-so-much-effort-to-eat/514922/85 "2009-11-13T05:38:37Z")
My husband says that snow crab is an effort to eat, what with cracking the shell and picking out the bits of meat. He says that king crab is even worse, because it has bristles. He’s got a broken foot and is finding it hard to get around. He wanted to go to Joe’s Crab Shack this afternoon, but didn’t want to get in the car and drive for half an hour. So, when I went grocery shopping, I got him some crab legs at the fish section, and had them steamed. Yes, of COURSE I got king crab, I didn’t know he preferred snow crab. He was happy with any sort of crab, though. I don’t eat shellfish myself, because I just don’t like the way it tastes. But he was happy to get some crab legs and potato salad for dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-take-so-much-effort-to-eat/514922/86 "2009-11-13T13:46:32Z")
I always let the neighborhood produce market clean my pineapple for me. I love fresh pineapple, but I don’t want to go to the trouble of coring it (even though I bought a corer at a rummage sale a few years ago for a buck). They take the top off and clean it for free, and I have fresh pineapple. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-take-so-much-effort-to-eat/514922/87 "2009-11-13T15:08:44Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > As soon as I saw the thread title, I thought “steamed crabs”! By which I mean the popular Maryland blue crab, of course. > > They _are_ tasty, but one gets tired of picking them _long_ before one gets full! This is why a proper “crab feast” (which was popular when I was growing up in a suburb of Baltimore in the late 60s/early 70s) also featured: crab soup, crab cakes, steamed corn, and possibly hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill! > > I also heartily agree with pomegranates. Yeah, they taste good. But, IMHO, they are _so_ not worth the trouble! A friend of mine started using an online calorie tracker and input her dinner of steamed crabs. Apparently one crab yields something ridiculous like 19 calories. I don’t remember the number. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-take-so-much-effort-to-eat/514922/88 "2009-11-13T15:11:18Z")
On pineapple: You can plant the top and grow your own pineapples, if you live in a warm place. Recently, a friend of mine sent me about a pound of pine nuts still in their shells. I love me some pine nuts, but it was such a colossal PITA to get the little buggers out of their shells, I would eat maybe five and abandon them for an easier-to-access snack. I ended up tossing most of what she sent. So much for the pesto I was going to make. Also, I have carpal tunnel, so that pinchy motion I had to use with my fingers was like jamming a steel spike through my palms, so that helped to demotivate me on the pine nuts. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-take-so-much-effort-to-eat/514922/89 "2009-11-14T21:57:26Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > My husband says that snow crab is an effort to eat, what with cracking the shell and picking out the bits of meat. He says that king crab is even worse, because it has bristles. Yeah, crab’s a chore. I’ve reached the point where I won’t even get it at the chinese buffet when it’s offered. I like it, but I’m already getting up to walk around and serve myself, I’m not gonna add to that effort and spend time shelling crab too!😃 ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-take-so-much-effort-to-eat/514922/90 "2010-01-24T22:49:03Z")
> [@Aankh](#): > > I’ve seen this time and again from people on the Dope. I have to ask now - what complicated method are you guys using? Because I grew up in a place where pomegranates were plentiful and pretty much everyone I knew used a very simple method of eating them. > > Cut into slices, kind of like an apple, with the leathery skin still on. Bend each slice backward so that the meaty bits stick out, and bite a big chunk off. Chew each mouthful _gently_ so that the meat is pierced and releases its juice, but the seeds don’t get ground down. Then swallow or spit out the seeds. Really only takes a couple minutes to polish down a pomegranate when done this way. > > If you’re picking off one teeny pod at a time, it’ll take a year. But a whole chunk chewed gently? Easy peasy, my friends. Are you chewing on the white part, or just the red seeds? What part are you calling the meat? I can’t imagine eating one in the car. A bag of the red seeds, yes, if you swallow the kernel inside that luscious red. But everytime I cut one open there is red, staining juice going everywhere. I don’t keep a pristine car by any means, but to open and eat a pomegranate in a car seems…crazy! ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-take-so-much-effort-to-eat/514922/91 "2010-01-24T22:58:17Z")
I agree with the OP in general, shellfish and crab. Granted, I know it’s a skill. You probably get pretty good at it after eating the stuff frequently. But this flatlander simply can’t tolerate it. I spent a lot of time in Atlanta last year. My friendly and helpful co-workers loved to take me to well-regarded local “crab-shacks”. I’ll grant, when I did actually get the meat out, it was delicious. But here’s how the evenings usually went: [ul] [li]A plate of delicious smelling crab and shellfish plate is placed before GameHat.[/li][li]GameHat manages to break his little plastic shell fork (what do they call it again?) within 5 minutes.[/li][li]GameHat attempts brute force, with little effect.[/li][li]GameHat cuts himself, often to the point of drawing blood, on some damned carapace that is just too clever for him.[/li][/ul] It’s my loss. It always smelled delicious. The little bit of meat I usually managed to wrangle free and eat was wonderful. But I usually left hungry and bloodied. Until there is a proper 3-day class on how to get the meat out of these bastard crustaceans, I’m not going to try again. It’s just too much work for this land-locked fool. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-take-so-much-effort-to-eat/514922/92 "2010-01-24T23:26:32Z")
Boiled peanuts rank right up there with tiny unshelled shrimp in the mess and trouble-to-eat categories. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-take-so-much-effort-to-eat/514922.md?page=4)