I bought shrimp from Thailand today

[lillypaddle]

My son is coming to visit from out of state, so I splurged. The large, pink shrimp looked wonderful, but they were from the gulf. The meat department guy told me that they've been assured that they are safe. I really wanted to support the gulf shrimpers, but I chickened out. I feel really guilty. What would you have done?

[Kali]

1. I bought some gulf shrimp on sale before the spill - my first time ever.

I have to say, the flavor is so superior to that Asian farm raised crap I doubt I will ever buy it again. We also used to buy right off the boat in Puerto Penasco from the Sea of Cortez - good tasting but every now and then you would get some that had a bit of diesel flavor - from the boat or the handlers???

If the gulf shrimp are passing smell and taste tests I wouldn't worry about the occasional treat - I sure as hell can't afford to eat them often enough to build up toxins no matter what kind (lots of other pollution besides the oil spill out there)

[lillypaddle]

3. Good point, Kali

shoulda done what my first instinct told me.

[Kali]

4. use lots of garlic and enjoy your shrimp

sometimes you have to make a mistake to learn - in my case I always bought the cheaper stuff in fact I had been told the gulf shrimp were good a long time ago but never saw them in our stores at all - that is why I grabbed that 7 lb bag when I saw it AND the price was within the price of the better Asian ones. Now I doubt if I will even look at those unless they are REALLY cheap (still good for stir fry and stuff like that, but for a stand out real shrimp taste? gulf from now on!)

[SCantiGOP]

2. My wife is from a fishing community

on the SC coast. So, we have a "Real men don't eat imported shrimp" bumper sticker. We only buy shrimp from a place that certifies it is locally caught.
By the way, she remembers the Blessing of the Fleet ceremony when she was a teenager, and it would take three to four hours for all the boats to go by. Last year there were 11 boats.
But, don't feel too sorry for the folks. A lot of them got very rich before many of them went to jail in the 90s bringing in pot from offshore boats, and now some people who never made enough to save anything for retirement are seeing their properties valued 10-20 times what they were a few years ago as the area becomes a bedroom and second home community for Charleston.
Still, it's very sad to see a way of life disappear. They simply can't compete with Asian imports, especially Viet Nam.

[Demoiselle]

5. It wouldn't hurt to research farm raised Thai shrimp a little...

Here:
www.citizen.org/cmep/article_redirect.cfm?ID=12706

Just a suggestion.

[lillypaddle]

6. Thanks for the link

Ugh. Guess nothing is safe any more.

[Cruzan]

8. Or the child labor involved

http://fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews.asp?l=e&ndb=1&id=28191

[DFW]

7. Chickened out--on both counts!

I wouldn't touch gulf shrimp without protective lab gloves, and the southeast Asian shrimp are usually
farm raised under unhealthy concentration camp conditions. Unless it's fresh catch from Cape Cod or the
Pacific northwest, I'd opt for frozen scallops or something similar.

[Old Troop]

9. Wouldn't it have been cheaper to buy it somewhere local? The

flight alone must have set you back a bunch.

[lillypaddle]

10. Yuk Yuk

FROM Thailand, not IN. :)

[bif]

11. I don't buy that stuff anymore

Sure it's cheaper, but it doesn't have any flavor. Plus, I heard they destroy the rivers where they raise them. Gulf shrimp is far more flavorful. And since I rarely buy shrimp, the cost difference isn't much of a factor.