An Italian crustacean infestation is fanning culinary excitement in Korea, with a local seafood importer reaching out to Italy for possible imports. Italy's northern Adriatic coast has been dealing with an invasive crab species called the Atlantic blue crab in recent years, with the species wreaking havoc on the country’s ecosystem and causing millions of dollars worth of damage. First introduced through t...
I haven’t tasted them yet but, apparently, compared to the Mediterranean crabs they are kind of “meehhhh”. That’s why they are trying to export them in Korea, in Italy customers prefer the Mediterranean ones because more tasty and meaty.
They hope that Korea export could pay part of the large scale fishing needed to control these crabs
I mean, you need to know how to cook them. Korean ferment them in Soy sauce. It’s crazy delicious.
I’ve never had Mediterranean crabs but this is a bit surprising if true. Of the various North American crab species, this one has the best flavor I think.
You should take an holiday to some Mediterranean locations, top notch sea food!
Apparently it is good but with a slight metallic taste and not meaty. Italians are very “detailed” when it comes to food. I haven’t tasted it yet unfortunately.
Government just need to find some additional market to fund some of the the fishing, because it is afraid the internal market might not be sufficient
It’s possible they taste different since they have a different diet but I definitely would not describe ours that way. Very meaty and with no metallic taste that I’ve noticed.
I’d love to visit the Mediterranean someday but probably not soon. Right now I’m trying to minimize the amount of oil I burn so until there’s another way it might not be feasible.
Might also be a different variety… They came in some container ship, but it is unclear from where. No idea tbf ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Well the article says it’s the Atlantic blue crab which is the one I’m talking about. There is only one type under that name to my knowledge. If they do taste different it must be down to the different diet or environment. That or our palettes are somehow different.
What species of crabs do the locals normally eat?
I am pretty sure it is also about “cultural” taste. Italians have more types of pasta, cheese and wines of any country in the world and they can tell the difference of each of them at a extreme level. Italians are pretty pedantic on food
I am not an expert in crabs, no idea of the names of common mediterranean crabs, sorry. But searching on Wikipedia one apparently is called in English Maja squinado, another Mediterranean green crab…
As said, I might be wrong with these names
Well if it is the same or similar to what we call the European green crab here, that would be quite interesting! That species has invaded North America but is widely seen as unsuitable for eating here, while the blue crab is highly over-harvested for its delectable flavor. I suppose there is no accounting for taste but the rest of the world has a great appreciation for these so I think Italy can come around to it.
For a perspective from this side of the Atlantic, see: https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/climate-environment/blue-crab-italy-invasion-M2IX2UR6AFD23AIP3UJNUMQEDU/
I like this :D
We will eventually eat them, we just need to understand how to properly make a pasta sauce out of it! Already some people are eating them, we need time to refine the recipes to become more popular :D