What are shrimp?

What are shrimp and who had the brilliant idea that they may be delicious to eat? If I were swimming back in the 7th century would I have considered eating this?

 No. If I saw this  I would probably scream and swim as fast as possible to my boat and never return to the sea. Ok, I’m exaggerating, but the point I’m trying to make is whomever was brave enough to catch this little guy for food is one to thank.

 “Shrimp” comes from a middle eastern word meaning “pygmy” – or small . Shrimp was consumed in Asia dating as far back as the 7th century and was not harvested in  the US  until around the 17th century. Today, shrimp is considered one of the most valuable and most popular seafood options in the US. (Social fish farm)

There are hundreds of different species of shrimp in the world. (It would be time consuming for us, and most likely boring for you if we were to dissect every detail of every species - maybe if we write a book someday – more to come). However, there are five species that are most commonly harvested. In simplistic terms these species are: pink, white, brown, royal red and rock shrimp. In case you are interested, the anatomy of a shrimp is quite complex!

 Now that you have a basic understanding of what a shrimp is, we’re ready to explore and discover all the benefits and glory this little guy brings!

- J

How it all began....

Jenny and I met by chance at an all women's college. She became good friends with my roommate and I tagged along with them wherever they ventured, but as fate had it, we grew closer over time and would eventually find common grounds over food, art, fashion, dance (love stories) and just about every random thing you could imagine. We are opposites though. She was a Business major and very into fashion and I was a Biology major, a hippie at heart and into theater and art. Not to mention, we come from completely different backgrounds. Together though, we balanced each other out; we strengthened each other's weaknesses and complimented each other's strengths. 


The strength of our friendship really began in the kitchen (a college dorm communal kitchen at that), making pancakes on Saturday mornings and occasional dinners when I'd sit on the kitchen table with my textbooks and watch her meticulously make homemade pasta or shrimp scampi. Sometimes, when she had time, she'd sit and watch me whip up a dish of homemade Thai food and comment on how amazing the aroma was. Eventually, we'd moved to our own place, have planned dinner dates where we'd cook dinner and then watch our favorite T.V. show (which at the time was the weekly episodes of "The Hills"). 


Sometime during this time period, Jenny and I started discussing our dreams of retirement (or future business idea which would ultimately lead to retirement..., whichever came first) which included owning our own shrimping business, traveling the seas and eventually settling down to open up a shrimp restaurant along the coast of Florida. We began designing shrimp inspired napkins, pastries, table clothes and even what our shrimp boat would look like. With the combination of our talents, we've become very accustomed to creating shrimp inspired items on the spot. I even designed a shrimp dress for her at one point. So despite all the other things we had in common, it was our love and fond of SHRIMP that brought us closest together. We dream of attending the Shrimp Festival in Alabama and other Shrimp Festivals nationally and internationally, but because all dreams must start small, we will settle to simply blogging and sharing our love and knowledge of shrimp with other shrimp lovers around the world. 


Until then, take care and God bless. 


-S


Check back next time for THE HISTORY OF SHRIMP....