Shrimp, clams, lobsters, octopus and squid are popular seafood. Some people like them, others are afraid to even try them. And it's worth it! Seafood has a unique taste, is very he althy and - as some say - it fosters love.

Italy is said to befrutti di mare , meaningseafood , and this name has been adopted throughout the world. Italians ate them already in the Middle Ages, bringing them from France. These skeletonless sea animals have also been a national delicacy of the French for 200 years. In Poland, the first seafood began to appear on magnate tables during the reign of Augustus III. Liveoysters- brought from France in boxes covered with ice - were eaten in aristocrats' residences during the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski. Frutti di mare was a fashionable delicacy of artists and generals in the interwar period. After the war, they were no longer imported to Poland. Only in recent years have they appeared in our stores, and in a large selection.

Seafood for potency and immunity

Like fish, seafood is highly nutritious,as long as it comes from clean waters. Otherwise, they may contain harmful chemicals. The Atlantic ones are better than those from the B altic Sea. And because we can't tell where they're coming from in-store, nutritionists advise us to use common sense when eating a varied diet. The benefits of eating seafood outweigh the risk of harmful effects from the contaminants it contains. Anyway, under the influence of cooking, stewing, frying, reheating in a microwave oven, the amount of these substances can decrease by up to 70%. Seafood is not recommended only for young children and pregnant and lactating women. They are a valuable source of easily digestible protein. Most of them contain as much as meat, and at the same time have less fat and cholesterol. They are low-calorie products, so they can be eaten by overweight people and with cardiovascular problems. Seafood contains valuable omega-3 fatty acids necessary in the prevention and treatment of many civilization diseases. They provide B vitamins, especially PP and B12 (plays an important role in the formation of red blood cells), and oysters also vitamins B1 and B2. All seafoodis greatsource of iodine(necessary for the production of thyroid hormones, which play an important role in metabolic processes). They provide selenium (ensures the proper functioning of all cells, has an anti-cancer effect), fluoride (good for teeth and bones), as well as iron, magnesium, calcium and zinc (strengthens the immune system, fights free radicals and increases sex drive). Oysters are the richest source of zinc, thanks to which they have the opinion ofa strong aphrodisiac .

Important

Three families of sea creatures

Seafood can be divided into three main groups:

  • crustaceans , which took their name from the shell covering the body (e.g. lobsters, crabs, shrimps);
  • musselswhose body is hidden in shells (e.g. oysters, mussels, St. James's shells and a large group of mussels known as "edible mussels");
  • cephalopodsthat do not have armor (e.g. squid, octopus).

They are available canned (in natural brine or white wine and in various sauces, e.g. sea, Catalan, vinaigrette, smoked or marinated) and frozen (in shells or meat only, raw or already cooked). Only a few speci alty stores sell and take individual orders for live oysters, mussels and even lobsters. However, both their number and offer are constantly growing.

Popular seafood

HOMAR

It resembles a river crayfish. It has a dark blue, dark brown or black-green carapace that turns red in boiling water, and white, tender and lean meat. The most delicious are lobsters weighing 1 kg. Our market mainly includes frozen raw Canadian and Greenland lobsters. Lobster can be baked, stewed, boiled in water or steamed. Serve cold or warm, then it goes well with stewed vegetables. Our tip: Serve the lobsters cut in half along the body. To make it easier to eat, the meat is often taken out of the tongs and placed on a plate next to the lobster. If the lobster claws have not been split beforehand, they are torn off the carapace with the fingers, crushed with tongs and the meat is selected with a special fork (spike). This fork is not intended for eating.

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Liketo buy and cook?

Due to the high protein content, seafood goes bad quickly. Therefore, when buying them, be sure to pay attention to the use-by date. After defrosting, the frozen food must be used immediately. They must not be frozen again. Open canned food should be eaten within 24 hours. When choosing fresh clams, make sure that the shells are tightly closed. Fresh meat should be firm, without stains and have a pleasant sea smell. The mussels should not be cooked for too long. Mussels are most often cooked in their shells until they open. St. James is removed from the shells and boiled for 1-2 minutes, depending on their size. Shellfish should not be cooked for longer than 15 minutes as the meat loses its flavor and hardens. Cooked seafood should be allowed to cool in the stock before cooking. In general, frozen foods need to be cooked because they are raw or only precooked. Only the prawns are usually already eatable and if they are to be served warm, they only need to be subjected to a short heat treatment (e.g. blanched).

KRAB

When cooking, the shell of the crab turns from gray to red. The meat is tender, white in the claws and dark in the carapace. Whole crabs can be bought rarely and only frozen. Alive comes sporadically, mainly in restaurants. Canned crabs are on sale. The meat is suitable for a soufflé or for a salad. It can be served as a main course. Our tip: When the whole crab is cooked, tear off the legs and tongs, then remove the meat with a spoon. Ticks are smashed with a hammer. In a decorative crust, you can serve a souffle or salad. Note: Crab sticks are usually an imitation of crab meat. They are made from white fish, usually pollock. To make the counterfeit as perfect as possible, a dye is used which gives the fingers a red color.

Seafood should be included in every diet

Source: x-news.pl/Agencja TVN

PRAWNS

The most popular (and cheapest) are gray prawns, they are 3-6 cm long. You can also buy 6-7 cm long red shrimps, and pink (so-called giant) shrimps 15-20 cm long. The pink and red prawns are tastier than the gray ones. Small prawns are often called cocktail ones, larger ones - royal ones. Only the tail meat is edible. The main products for sale are cooked and frozen shrimps, peeled or shelled, whole or tails only, and in brine. They are also part of the frozen frutti di mare mixtures. The prawns are served hot or cold. They are boiled in water or steamed, stewed, grilled or fried. They are suitable for soups, omelettes, pancakes and pasta dishes. You can make themjellies, mousses, pastes, salads. They taste great with garlic sauce. Our tip: Peel the prawns with your fingers. The shells of larger specimens can be cut with scissors.

EDIBLE CLAMS

They appear under different names (e.g. sand-climber monkey, scaly schołdra). The meat has an intense flavor, but it can be tough. We mainly offer smoked, pickled and frozen mussels. You can add them to soup or salad, cook them in their shells. Tip: When opening the mussels, insert the knife between the shell halves and slide them end to end.

OSTRYGS

The meat is creamy-gray, juicy, with a characteristic smell of the sea. Oysters are sold mainly fresh - live in closed shells or previously opened and left in half of the shell (they are hard to find here, mainly in good restaurants). Raw oysters are a delicacy. Once removed from the shells, they can be grilled, boiled, fried or fried in dough. Our tip: The oysters are opened with a special knife, which you need to stick between the two parts of the shell, pry the upper part out and tear it off with your fingers. Fresh oysters are served on crushed ice, with lemon and white pepper.

MUSSELS of St. JAKUBA (scallops)

They have creamy white meat with an intense sea flavor. We offer them mainly in canned food. They are suitable for salads, sauces and fish dishes. Raw meat can be deep-fried, grilled, grilled, boiled. Our tip: Remove the meat by prying the lid open with a knife. The jelly coat must be removed before cooking. It is better to cut large pieces of meat in half so that it is not hard.

MULE

They have smooth, thin shells ranging from brown to purple-black in color. The mussels meat is white and has a delicate, sweet taste. Preserved, frozen and fresh mussels, shelled or peeled, are available for sale. You can steam them, stew them in your own sauce, bake them in an oven or on a wire rack. Canned mussels are less firm than fresh mussels. Canned mussels are ready to be served as a side dish, but they can also be gently roasted or added to salads, soups. Our tip: Mussels are boiled or stewed until the shells open. When closed, they cannot be eaten. Mussels are usually eaten with your hands. The open shell of the first mussels eaten serves as tweezers to remove the meat from the next mussels.

OCTOPUS

They have 8 arms of equal length, measuring from a few centimeters to 3 meters. Octopus meat is resilient and has a sea scent. Most often, frozen octopus, already cleaned, are on sale, and the large ones - cut into pieces. They are part of frozen seafood mixes. You can prepare them for salad (e.g. with rice), soup, stew withvegetables, serve with pasta. Cooked and sliced ​​octopus arms are a great ingredient in sushi. Serve the small breaded octopus, fried in fat, whole. Our advice: Apart from the smallest octopus, beat the octopus with a pestle before cooking to make them lose their elasticity. They are stewed until they are easy to stick on a fork (2.5-3 hours). If the octopus is not cleaned, the anus and mouth must be removed, then flipped over, insides, suction cups and arm tips removed.

KALMARY

These are tiny 10-arm cephalopods. The meat is tender, with a sweet and sea flavor. The most commonly available are frozen, whole (already cleaned) or sliced ​​squid (pure or breaded). They are suitable for deep-frying, grilling, baking them in a dough, stewing them, and making soup from them. They are a great addition to salads. Whole squids can be stuffed with rice or a roll soaked in milk with additives, such as mushrooms, fried onions, celery, garlic, capers. Our advice: Calamari won't be rubbery if you cook it for a very short or long time -; then preferably in a sauce. When making squids, it is necessary to tear off the head, while pulling out the insides. Rinse the pouch-shaped meat and remove the skin.

You must do it

The Art of Cleaning Fresh Clams

Put them in a dish with cold s alted water and leave them cool for 2-3 hours. Discard open or cracked clams and rinse the remaining clams under running water. Cut off the fine linen ("threads" that are used to attach the mussels to the substrate) from each shell, and scrape the top of the shells. Put them in a bowl of cold water, wash them thoroughly, moving your hand so that they bump against each other. Then put in a colander and rinse until the water runs clear. Put it back in the bowl with fresh water and drain after 10 minutes.

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