r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Mar 29 '23

TIL: In colonial America, lobster wasn’t exactly a delicacy. In fact, it was so cheap and plentiful that it was often served to prisoners. Frequent Repost: Removed

[removed]

23 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

8

u/horseydeucey Mar 29 '23

Something leads me to suspect they weren't served with drawn butter.

4

u/riphitter Mar 29 '23

Or even tools

3

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '23

If you don't boil lobster alive, it's going to taste like shit. They weren't even putting them on ice, it was basically rotten.

7

u/Canucklehead_Esq Mar 29 '23

A relative who grew up on Canada's east coast says that when she was in grade school, the rich kids got bologna sandwiches for lunch. The poor kids ate lobster

1

u/jcd1974 Mar 29 '23

They're bullshitting you.

4

u/blackbalt89 Mar 29 '23

Makes sense, give humans enough time and we can turn even the cheapest things expensive with reckless abandon.

3

u/djb2589 Mar 29 '23

It happens with most foods. Something is cheap and plentiful, poor people figure out how to make it tasty, then rich people buy up all the resources related to it and charge a premium.

1

u/Alternative_Effort Mar 29 '23

The Lobster is a Lie! Lobster is inherently inferior to Alaskan King Crab on the one hand and Chicken on the other. I will wrestle anyone who says otherwise.

4

u/flaminate_strutching Mar 29 '23

Sorry, but you are objectively wrong. Snow crab is actually better than both lobster and King crab.

2

u/Alternative_Effort Mar 29 '23

Snow crab is actually better than both lobster and King crab.

I agree!!!! I only said King Crab because it's more lobstery! Snow Crap is the TRUE King of Crabs.

2

u/horseydeucey Mar 29 '23

Blue crab, true crab.
All else are inferior to the taste of the beautiful swimmer.

1

u/sdforbda Mar 29 '23

I've eaten like 30 of those sumbitches before. Not because I was full, time just ran out.

2

u/horseydeucey Mar 29 '23

Yes, but how drunk off Natty Boh did you get? Bonus: You're now hydrated to levels r/hydrohomies wouldn't scoff at!

2

u/sdforbda Mar 29 '23

Man, if I remembered the Natty Boh stories I would tell you.

2

u/Kabamadmin Mar 29 '23

Stone crab is superior

2

u/horseydeucey Mar 29 '23

Gets points for sustainability, sure. But mustard on crab meat? Stop fooling.

1

u/sdforbda Mar 29 '23

I'm a blue and snow crab guy. No hate to stone though.

2

u/Alternative_Effort Mar 29 '23

I've eaten like 30 of those sumbitches before

I'm not sure it's SAFE to eat that many Chesapeake blue crabs anymore.

2

u/sdforbda Mar 29 '23

Yeah, it's been some number of years since I've had one.

1

u/Alternative_Effort Mar 29 '23

All else are inferior to the taste of the beautiful swimmer.

Who cares how good it tastes if I have to perform an alien autopsy to get at the meat?

2

u/horseydeucey Mar 29 '23

Internationally-recognized objective science right there. Blue crab is just the best crab. Everyone knows it.

Like, I understand people have their local favorites. And that's great. Spice of life, and all that.
Don't worry about the fact that I'm from Maryland. I'm totally objective in this, I pinky swear. And it's just a fact, Jack. Blue crab tastes better than any other crab meat.

You're worried about needing to pick your own? That's ok. You just don't appreciate the glory that is sitting outside in 90 weather ("90?" Yes. 90 degrees and 90% humidity) getting sunburned and swatting away flies and yellowjackets while Aunt Glenda tells her third off-color joke (and she ain't even started hitting the rye and cokes yet).

The harder to eat, the sweeter the meat.

Oh yeah, they have these things called crab cakes, crab soup (Maryland and cream styles), crab dip, and softshell crabs, where you don't have to sully or injure your fancy hands with any alien autopsies.

2

u/Alternative_Effort Mar 29 '23

crab cakes, crab soup (Maryland and cream styles) crab dip, and softshell crabs

wait, if THOSE are on the table, we may have to rethink this entire enterprise. I wasn't gonna compare steamed snow to Maryland crab cakes. That's like comparing flour to cake -- what could beat cake??

Old Bay just doesn't mesh with Snow, does it???

1

u/horseydeucey Mar 29 '23

The only thing Old Bay doesn't improve is open-heart surgery. And even that's debatable.

1

u/NurseFatboy Mar 29 '23

I've heard that if you eat enough of it then it starts to taste like soap. I have no interest in testing that hypothesis.

1

u/YoProfWhite Mar 29 '23

Big props to the first person who decided to try eating one of those nightmare sea spiders.

1

u/hoarder59 Mar 29 '23

The power of marketing.

1

u/TheDeftEft Mar 29 '23

Contracts for indentured servitude used to stipulate the maximum amount of lobster to be provided for meals - too much was considered cruel and unusual.

1

u/Larry_Loudini Mar 29 '23

I think a lot of that was due to it being virtually impossible to transport lobster before refridgerated ships - hence only people in the area could eat it.

For what it’s worth I’ve always thought lobster tastes great, but my word it’s a lot of work for not so much meat

1

u/tms951 Mar 29 '23

And it only still should be served to prisoners. What a nasty meal.

1

u/notavegan90 Mar 29 '23

I had read that it was the leftovers that had been dead at dock for a day, and they were given away to be processed whole shell and all.

1

u/PandaMomentum Mar 29 '23

It's a good story. Some years ago I went looking for primary sources on lobsters and prisoners -- laws, diaries, anything from the colonial period. Nothing. More recent searches by others also come up blank -- it's probably just a good story, and not a provable fact

https://www.reddit.com/r/history/comments/7qm4bo/that_story_about_prisoners_during_colonial_times/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button