SC - Re: Fake Crab (Krab)

[RANDALL DIAMOND]

Christianna comments:
>>>>Ah, but you left out the 'secret ingredient' - Crab Essence!  And just
what is Crab Essence, you might ask?  Well, I probably shouldn't divulge
this professional secret, but, when you allow frozen crabs to thaw, and
catch the fluids that drain out, you've got - you guessed it- Crab
Essence!  This is usually listed as one of the ingredients in the fake
crab sticks (abominations), and is the only part of the imposters that
once was close to a crab.<<<<

Actually, I am rather sure that the FDA would not allow this kind
of processing as it would be too dangerously prone to contaminations.
It was my understanding that the essence was actually an extract made
by chemically removing the compound responsible for the unique crab taste
from the waste parts of the crab, particularly the shelled bodies and legs.
I was told this is the way they also get the lobster and shrimp extracts
for those faux fish as well.  This make a lot more sense when you look at
the vast quantities of krab now being used.   If you have so much real
crab to thaw and waste, why bother making fakes?
At any rate, this is a moot point as the faux shellfish industry worldwide
has now exceeded the capacity of the pollach species to reproduce
itself.  The huge catches are unsustainable and we will see this product
eventally price itself out of the market.    It is also putting a huge
strain
on the shellfish species as well.   I recently heard that they have come
up with a synthetic extract duplicate for crab though which may help
the crab population rebound somewhat.  But the very neutral flavor and
white flesh of the pollach is the perferred base for all these faux
items and there is no substitute in sight.   We are on the verge of eating
yet another species out of existance.  Shameful.

Akim Yaroslavich
"No glory comes without pain"