Good Eats episode, Crustacean Nation II: Claws is a little different. Instead of taking the very day food and making it accessible, Alton Brown takes an "elite" food we love and brings it home with simplicity. Essentially, the only character appearing in this one is Alton Brown as, of course, himself. The plot line on this one is really more of a problem. There are certain food luxuries out there, but most of them are either out of our price range or impossible to find. Alton Brown points out that lobster is usually fairly easy to find, fresh, and is more affordable than you think. The problem is that most of us are just too afraid to cook it at home. Jumping right into this one, Alton Brown takes us through the process by starting with how to select a lobster at the local grocery store. After that, he goes through transportation of the crustaceans. Then he explains the storage, preparation, and finally how to carve and eat them, The thorough and easy to understand instructions are a trademark of the show and of Alton Brown himself. One of the great trivial history facts presented in this episode is that in colonial times lobster was considered food for the poor. At one point, servants in Massachusetts went on strike because they did want to be forced to eat lobster more than three times each week. Things have come a long way since those days. This episode, in fact, is loaded with great trivia and history. From learning that lobsters are essentially bugs to finding that they are lower in cholesterol than chicken, there is a lot here to learn. Tip of the episode: If you do not like the idea of trying to kill a lobster on your countertop or in the water, you can put them in the freezer. Their metabolisms drop so far that they do not feel anything and are, in fact, so lethargic that they will not even move when you take them out. |
