“I don’t like seafood.” How often have you heard this from family or friends when planning a meal? With such a rich selection of edible creatures in the sea, it’s hard to believe there’s not one thing these folks would eat. While it isn’t for everyone, the most common reasons for disliking seafood are easily refutable.
Preparation Is Everything
Most people avoid certain foods based on past bad experiences. While they can be delicious, many sea creatures’ natural properties present cooks with challenges. For instance, catfish take on the taste of the mud they live in, and are fried or blackened to mask that flavor. Lobsters, on the other hand, are boiled alive to prevent food poisoning.
Trusting the trained chefs at a seafood restaurant Plano guarantees the best time for everyone. Here, your finicky friends may sample different dishes, and helpful staff can make recommendations.
Fish That Isn’t Fishy
Some people say they don’t like fish because it’s “too fishy.” This may sound ridiculous, but there’s no doubt a lot of seafood has a distinctive taste and texture. What folks find distasteful is the strong briny tang found in fatty, oily fish — tuna, herring, mackerel and especially anchovies. Instead, suggest a mild white fish, such as cod, haddock, pollock or grouper. It helps that these big fish are filleted and served multiple ways, often treated more like meat.
As for seafood, a common complaint of shrimp, clams, squid or crab meat is rubberiness. Again, this is generally a preparation problem. The flesh was either overcooked or half-spoiled to start with. Bacteria can ruin shellfish within hours after it’s caught. In fact, all fish and seafood are best enjoyed as fresh as possible, so find a restaurant specializing in fresh catches.
If you’re willing to understand everyone’s comfort zones, and they’re willing to step a bit outside them, why not introduce your friends to the ocean’s bounty? If all goes well, you’ll unearth a new culinary world of saltwater delights for them.