that sea creatures accumulate in their cells to
balance the salt in the water, crustaceans favor
glycine, which has a sweet taste and lends
sweetness to their meat.
The distinctive iodine-like flavor found
frequently in gulf brown shrimps and
occasionally in other crustaceans originates in
bromine compounds that the animals
accumulate from algae and other foods, and
then convert to unusual and more odorous
compounds (bromophenols) in their gut.
It’s often observed that crustaceans are
more flavorful when cooked in their shells.
The cuticle reduces the leaching of flavor
compounds from the flesh, and is itself a
concentrated mass of proteins, sugars, and
pigment molecules that can flavor the outer
layer of flesh.
Choosing and Handling Crustaceans
Because their flesh is so easily damaged by
their own enzymes once they’re dead,