# What's the deal with lobster? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 25, 2008, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397 "2008-11-25T06:48:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/21 "2008-11-25T18:18:41Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > You people _do_ realize you’re basically eating giant, underwater cockroaches, right? :eek: Totally! This makes me absolutely convinced that the first poor bastard to ever _attempt_ to eat one must have been mighty damned hungry! However, it was brilliant! ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/22 "2008-11-25T18:22:32Z")
I would happily eat cockroaches if they were filled with lobster meat. Genetic engineers: get on that! Make 'em lobster sized, and grow on trees, too. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/23 "2008-11-25T18:24:10Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I would happily eat cockroaches if they were filled with lobster meat. > > Genetic engineers: get on that! Make 'em lobster sized, and grow on trees, too. I would totally welcome a [roach infestation](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=493652) then. ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/24 "2008-11-25T18:29:29Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > You people _do_ realize you’re basically eating giant, underwater cockroaches, right? :eek: I _do_ actually have that exact thought every time I eat lobster/shrimp, but it’s so good I manage to get it down anyway. I think about my love of seafood every time I see someone eat bugs/grubs whatever on tv and get grossed out - a little voice says “you eat seafood and that’s just giant bugs” ---
**Author:** ![Influential\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Influential\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Influential_Panda)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/25 "2008-11-25T18:30:18Z")
I had some Lobster in Maine this summer. Steamed and served on a plain white hotdog bun with french fries and a lemon. No salt, no pepper. Overall, it was pretty good, but nothing I’d pay $20 for again. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/26 "2008-11-25T18:30:58Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Love shrimp. > > Hate lobster. > > I only state this because I think it’s possible I’m the only Doper currently residing in Maine, so by law, I’m forced to offer a lobster opinion. > > Lobster makes me gag. Nope, you’re not the only Mainer on SDMB, I’m a Mainer too as far as lobstah goes, I LOVE it, I wonder if the people who dislike it have ever had one fresh off the boat, minutes out of the ocean, lobster does not travel well If you want the best lobster experience possible, find a small coastal resturant that gets their critters daily, fresh off the boat is the only way to truly enjoy them I’ve had lobster fresh off the boat, and some from the megaconglomerate grocer, there _IS_ a difference, lobster shipped in from a central vendor is bland and slightly rubbery, fresh off the boat, it has a flakier consistency and delicate sweetness ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/27 "2008-11-25T18:32:48Z")
Lobster = cockroach Shrimp = silverfish Oysters/Clams = water filters Crabs = well, crabs… duh. Is there any truth to the idea that “Interestingly enough, lobster used to be poor person food” ? Is Chilean seabass really just pattagonia toothfish remarketed? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/28 "2008-11-25T18:34:06Z")
I heard that in the early days of the American colonies Lobster was considered a common man’s food. No cite on that though. I don’t like it. Love shrimp, find Lobster kind of dull. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/29 "2008-11-25T18:37:16Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > I’ve had lobster fresh off the boat, and some from the megaconglomerate grocer, there _IS_ a difference, lobster shipped in from a central vendor is bland and slightly rubbery, fresh off the boat, it has a flakier consistency and delicate sweetness When I lived in San Diego, I had a friend with a boat. He said you could sail down to Mexico and a fisherman would come up and trade you fresh lobster for a carton of Marlboros or something. Living on a boat and trading things to fisherman for fresh lobster became my vision of heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/30 "2008-11-25T18:45:07Z")
> [@seodoa](#): > > While reading a recent GQ thread, I got to wondering… > > I love seafood. I love all kinds of seafood, including many of our tasty shellfish cousins. > > That being said, what’s the big deal with lobster? People regularly pay beaucoup bucks for this “delicacy.” My issue? It’s surprisingly mediocre. It’s almost always served basted in fats and seasonings. What’s the point? If it is worth the price, it should be delectable, more or less, on its own. > > Do people only like it because it is expensive? Or am I just some bumpkin whose tastes are merely too provincial? I would agree that it requires seasoning but if done right is wonderful. If I just was drowning it in butter I would rank king crab higher but Lobster is still great. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/31 "2008-11-25T18:48:22Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > I also forgot to mention lobster burritos from [Puerto Nuevo](http://www.puertonuevolobster.com/)! Did you know that Puerto Nuevo was once just a couple of houses where you ate in their dining rooms? Anyway, there’s another place in the area that offers all kinds of seafood for a good price, and it isn’t trampled by tourists. You have to take a long dirt road from the highway, and I’m not even sure if the place has a name. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/32 "2008-11-25T19:14:14Z")
I love lobster. Last summer, I was introduce to it Bay of Fundy style – cold with just a little bit of butter. Amazing. Of course, it helps that they caught it earlier that day. When I was a kid, our birthday treat was a lobster dinner. Only the birthday boy could have it, though; the other two of us had to watch enviously. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/33 "2008-11-25T19:48:57Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Is there any truth to the idea that “Interestingly enough, lobster used to be poor person food” ? [Yup:](http://www.gma.org/lobsters/allaboutlobsters/lobsterhistory.html) > [@The Gulf of Maine Research Institute](#): > > Long ago, lobsters were so plentiful that Native Americans used them to fertilize their fields and to bait their hooks for fishing. In colonial times, lobsters were considered “poverty food.” They were harvested from tidal pools and served to children, to prisoners, and to indentured servants, who exchanged their passage to America for seven years of service to their sponsors. In Massachusetts, some of the servants finally rebelled. They had it put into their contracts that they would not be forced to eat lobster more than three times a week. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/34 "2008-11-25T20:52:40Z")
I \<3 lobster. But I agree it’s usually way overpriced. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/35 "2008-11-25T20:58:28Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > I \<3 lobster. But I agree it’s usually way overpriced. You teabag lobster? 😕 I like lobster, but not that much. ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/36 "2008-11-25T21:00:50Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > You people _do_ realize you’re basically eating giant, underwater cockroaches, right? :eek: I realize this was meant in jest, but my inner pedant cannot let it go. The subphyla into which lobsters and roaches are classed (crustacea and hexapoda, respectively) are within the same phylum (arthropoda). The system is admittedly imperfect but it is used by biologists and paleontologists all over the world, so it’s what we’ve got. So, it is roughly equivalent to say, in a discussion about eating elephants: “You realize you are eating giant, terrestrial tunicates, right?”. Phylum chordata, subphylum craniata and urochordata, respectively. Less preposterously, you could say elephants and rats (order mammalia). ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/37 "2008-11-25T21:11:44Z")
Dang it! Mammalia is a class, not an order. ---
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/38 "2008-11-25T21:14:50Z")
When I was a kid I was expected to eat what was in front of me. One night we had lobster, and I didn’t like it. I was six years old and it tasted too rich and buttery and totally gagged me. My parents were like, stay at the table til you eat it. So I sat at the table for a long time, probably an hour or more after dinner. I really didn’t WANT to eat that lobster. Finally I did eat it. By the time I did it was ice cold and rubbery and clotted with cold congealed butter, but I ate it because I knew I’d spend the night sitting up at the table if I didn’t. Later that night I threw it up all over my bedroom. I haven’t been able to eat it since, except once, many years later, when an old boyfriend made lobster. It still wasn’t good. Thank God he was a cheap-ass and had bought small ones. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/39 "2008-11-25T21:29:51Z")
> [@Furious\_Marmot](#): > > [Lobster = cockroaches] > I realize this was meant in jest, but my inner pedant cannot let it go. > > The subphyla into which lobsters and roaches are classed (crustacea and hexapoda, respectively) are within the same phylum (arthropoda). The system is admittedly imperfect but it is used by biologists and paleontologists all over the world, so it’s what we’ve got. > So, it is roughly equivalent to say, in a discussion about eating elephants: “You realize you are eating giant, terrestrial tunicates, right?”. Phylum chordata, subphylum craniata and urochordata, respectively. Less preposterously, you could say elephants and rats (order mammalia). Well, lobsters are closer to cockroaches than pretty much any other (North American) human food (aside from crabs, shrimp and the occasional novelty chocolate-covered mealworm). Plus, the comparison is also based on the idea that lobsters are, like roaches, scavenging bottom-feeders eating whatever rotting stuff they stumble across (partially true, though lobsters also prey on live shellfish and anything else they can catch). Though in practice, a significant amount of lobster diet in the NE comes from bait in lobster traps (I was told by a researcher that the mass of bait put into traps each year is a little more than the mass of lobsters caught). So maybe free-range farmed pigs are the better comparison. On lobsters being poor food of old, the – completely unverified-- story I heard was of families in financial reverses a generation or so ago carefully making sure the shells weren’t visible in their garbage, so they could avoid the shame of having their neighbors know that the family was reduced to eating lobster. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397/40 "2008-11-25T21:56:19Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > You people _do_ realize you’re basically eating giant, underwater cockroaches, right? :eek: I heard that [giant tarantulas](http://www.extremescience.com/BiggestSpider.htm) taste like crab. I’d eat one, but I’m nuts. [QUOTE=guizot] Did you know that Puerto Nuevo was once just a couple of houses where you ate in their dining rooms? Anyway, there’s another place in the area that offers all kinds of seafood for a good price, and it isn’t trampled by tourists. You have to take a long dirt road from the highway, and I’m not even sure if the place has a name. [/QUOTE] You’re not talking about that old hotel in San Quintin, are you? Delicious crab claws and margaritas! Is this place somewhere near Rosarito? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lobster/474397.md?page=3)