This is the Safari online edition of the printed book.

The Most Fascinating Food You’ll Ever Love

The story of shrimp is as delicious as the creatures themselves. Renowned nature writers Jack and Anne Rudloe tell that story with passion, revealing a hidden history that has spanned millennia. You’ll discover the human stories and heritage behind centuries of shrimping around the world...meet the most remarkable of the world’s 4,000 species of shrimp...come aboard ragged old shrimp boats and spy on high-tech shrimp tanks...discover why shrimp might be a restaurant’s best friend and a real estate speculator’s worst nightmare. Read this utterly fascinating book, and you’ll never feel the same way about shrimp again: You’ll love it even more.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 9 Ratings

A curious blend of science and shrimpboat yarns (details) - 2010-01-31
Reviewer Rating:
The authors, Jack Rudloe and Anne Rudloe, PhD, are husband and wife. Together these two have learned over many years pretty much everything that can be known about shrimp. Here's what the book covers in regard to these elusive (and I think tasty) crustaceans:

-- Environment/Ecology
-- Shrimp taxonomy
-- Aquaculture/Shrimp farming
-- Recreational/Commercial harvest of shrimp
-- Political impacts
-- Economic impacts
-- Shrimp lifecycles
-- Human use of shrimp (culinary history, medical use)
-- Cultural impacts
-- Shrimping nostalgia

This 250-page book is illustrated with a reasonable number of edifying black-and-white photographs and line drawings. And the work is relevant for today's non-fiction readers in that the Rudloes note, that as of 2003, shrimp as a species has replaced canned tuna as America's best-selling seafood, (963 million pounds per year, page 45.)

Americans might find one particular quotation from the book to be moderately disturbing from an economic standpoint: "Only 10 percent of those succulent crustaceans... consumed in the United States come from domestic shrimp boats. The rest are grown [raised] on foreign shrimp farms or caught on foreign boats." (Page 222.) Of course, as one might imagine, this recent actuality has come about in part as a result of U.S. environmental group measures, often tenoned with subsequent unworkable legislation. These aspects of the industry, particularly the boondoggles, are covered in minute detail.

When I ordered this book, I was seeking to reinforce my personal knowledge of shrimp in two specific areas: 1. the culinary quality of various shrimp species (of which there are hundreds of species but only a few of which are consumed) and, 2. my interest in premiere shrimp recipes. The first item is addressed throughout the book. Unfortunately, the single-most germane fact concerning shrimp, that is how to best prepare them for the table, stands prominently as the overwhelming void of the work!

There is only a single "pseudo-recipe" presented anywhere in the book and, speculating here, I think that I know the reason. I can mentally hear a PhD of marine ecology asserting with great verve, "No! We're not publishing a cookbook here!" Well, I despair that the lowly culinary aspects of shrimp somehow failed to motivate the authors to address this key attribute of shrimp -- but these two folks have surely savored them all over the world and it would have been propitious to make note of any outstanding recipes which they may have encountered so that this worthwhile wisdom could have been shared with their readers... and it did not happen. Astounding!

I encountered a couple more fumbles in regard to shrimp consumption. The first was another void of sorts -- the authors note that many unfortunate people are allergic to shrimp, the inference being that these unlucky souls can never enjoy the great flavor of shrimp. On another page, they go on to remark that shrimp contain significant amounts of iodine; however, they never make the connection that it's the iodine, and not the shrimp meat in itself, to which most of these people are allergic! I know a great number of individuals who suffer the so-called shrimp allergy and practically all of them can preclude any allergic reaction by the simple expedient of swallowing a couple of Benadryl tablets just prior to consuming any shrimp. Both my wife and my sister-in-law routinely use Benadryl to avoid this complaint and they subsequently experience no ill effects whatever. In any case, I found it intriguing that the authors did not point this out.

A second "observation" of the authors was, I felt, quite misleading. They state explicitly [I'm paraphrasing here] that shrimp cholesterol levels are lower than those found in either chicken or beef, (page 46.) People often confuse "fat" with cholesterol and I think that's what happened here. The truth is that, for all their other notable nutritional qualities, shrimp are LOADED with cholesterol, about half that of fresh eggs. Now, the question stands as to how harmful this particular cholesterol might be in particularized cases, but this remains for affected persons to investigate as it might influence their personal health situation.

In general there are quite a few provincial shrimpboat anecdotes in here and these commentaries serve as an unusual contrast to the very scientific studies which are cited herein, (some of which are pretty boring but I suppose that there's no way around that.) But to recap, I would have thought that if the authors were prepared to casually discuss the Hollywood movie "Forrest Gump" in addition to spinning "Me and Bob" yarns that they could have offered us just a few dandy recipes. So in that sense I guess they missed the boat and thus so did I.

In summary, perhaps the strongest feature of this book is that the Rudloes really don't take sides on the numerous issues -- they simply present the particulars, thus allowing the respective readers to adopt their own opinions. And if you're fascinated with current environmental issues, shrimp farming, the harvesting of wild shrimp from waters around the planet (but with a particular focus on the Gulf of Mexico), and the economics of shrimp as either a producer or a consumer, then you'll find all that in this book -- but expect no recipes!

A Highly Potent Shrimp Cocktail - 2010-02-06
Reviewer Rating:
Shrimp, with their eyes on stalks that allow them a 360 degree view of life, give the appearance of permanently living in a state of pop-eyed surprise. This brief (slightly over 200 pages) book on the biology of shrimp, history of natural shrimp harvesting, and the emergence of aquaculture as the dominant method of bringing shrimp to your table, will be the occasion of more than one pop-eyed moment of surprise for the reader.

Prior to opening Jack and Anne Rudloe's dense and fast paced mini-volume on "pink gold", my knowledge of shrimp was fairly well limited to the fact that they came in small, medium, and large, and that they tasted good. I also knew that Forrest Gump (in the book,you'll meet the actual human his character was based on in this book) got rich in the shrimping business. Reading Shrimp, The Endless Quest for Pink Gold, was an always interesting, sometimes stunning, and yes, eye-popping experience.

Not a dry scientific tome, by the second page Jack Rudloe has you on the deck of a Florida shrimp boat as the net is pulled up: "The sheer volume and diversity of life brought up from beneath the waves shocked and overwhelmed me. It seemed like every creature in the ocean was disgorged onto the deck, all at one time, and all in one place. Blue crabs, spider crabs, calico crabs crawled, fish flapped, while pink shrimp exploded all over the deck. Their eyes glowed like hot coals beneath the overhead lights as they jackknifed and flipped on top of the bright yellow and orange sponges." The crew of the shrimp boat grab up the shrimp and a few of the fish, which form the basis of a seafood livelihood. The remainder of the sea life dredged up is referred to as "trash", or by the newer term "bycatch", and shoveled (mostly dead) overboard.

The Rudloes proceed to take the reader on a tour of all things shrimp, ranging from the mind-bending life cycles of several different species (including one in which each shrimp does a full turn as a male AND a full turn as a female), through the economics of shrimping, the travails of the wild-caught shrimp industry, the emergence and extremely turbulent foundation of the farmed shrimp that provide about two-thirds of what Americans now eat. The Rudloes also trace the enormously successful marketing campaign that changed shrimp from a food that was eaten only in cultural backwaters to one of the most popular American foods of the 21st century.

A significant portion of the book is devoted to the history of the wild-caught shrimping industry in the United States. Not a lab bench scientist, Jack Rudloe has logged many hours on shrimp boats, and his description of the boom, and devastating bust, of American shrimpers is clear-eyed and clearly sympathetic with the plight of the captains and crews of the shrimp boats. Though he quotes the famous song with the lines "Shrimp boats are a'coming, there's dancing tonight", his description of the hardships of the industry is hard-eyed and pragmatic. The highly technical nature of the trade, with its mandatory and hated TED's and BRD's (turtle exclusion devices and bycatch reduction devices) imposed on the shrimpers in an attempt to rescue impacted sea turtles and commercial fish, is laid out in clear and comprehensible terms. Once, there may have been romance in a career in shrimping. Not a trace of romance is left today.

The quality of the writing In Shrimp does not match up to the likes of David Quammen, Michael Pollan, Matt Ridley, or Natalie Angiers. No matter. The direct, honest, conversational tone of the writing is pleasant, clear, and familiar, as though the Rudloe's were relating what they had to say in a Florida bar over a few beers and a basket of, well, popcorn shrimp. The content of what they have to say ranges from mouth-watering (descriptions of the best tasting shrimp in the world) to the stomach-turning (descriptions of the devastating effects that the increasing plague of nitrogen and phosphate induced "dead zones" are having on commercial and sports fisheries). Rich in content, challenging in terms of what it has to say, the book is well worth the read. And it will, at times, make your bug-eyed with surprise.

Who would have throught that shrimp are so fascinating? - 2010-02-03
Reviewer Rating:
I love shrimp. I've loved shrimp since I was a small child. Broiled, boiled, fried, in chowders, in Bouillabaisse, any way at all. When I was very small, I used to look forward to our family trips to Detroit's Chinatown to have dinner at Chung's Restaurant on Peterborough, because they had more shrimp dishes than any place I'd ever been. I'm also a great fan of narrow-topic nonfiction books, like John McPhee's Oranges (Penguin Modern Classics), or Mark Kurlansky's Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, so should be obvious that I was a likely candidate for this book. But there's plenty for the non-shrimp-loving general reader, too- though with US shrimp consumption at 963 million pounds per year- that's about three pounds for every man, woman and child- there appear to be very few non-shrimp eaters among us.

The authors of this fascinating volume are a married couple: A nature writer with a good education in marine biology, and an academic with a PhD in marine biology. Between the two of them they've crafted an exceedingly well written tale that covers just about everything you'd care to know about shrimp. It begins with one of the authors gathering biological specimens on a shrimp boat in the Florida Gulf in his youth, and ends with a serious discussion of the need to protect the natural fish stocks in the oceans. In between, we learn about the over 4,000 different shrimp species (the authors quote an expert who remarks that just about every crustacean that isn't a lobster, barnacle or crab seems to be a "shrimp") the life cycle of the shrimp, life on a shrimp boat, how shrimp farming came to be (and why wild caught shrimp still taste better), the ecological costs of shrimp farming, the fight against shrimp poaching, and much more. There are even a few good tips on preparing (and selecting) shrimp.

This is the sort of detailed reporting that one used to find in the New Yorker before they decided that their readers couldn't handle a story much longer than a few pages. Highly recommended for fans of nonfiction, ocean lore, biology, and, anyone who enjoys a well-crafted piece of reporting.

The edible beastie that enriched Forrest Gump and Lt. Dan - 2010-02-03
Reviewer Rating:
"Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sautGÇÜ it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That - that's about it." - Bubba Blue in the 1994 film Forrest Gump

"Bubba was my best good friend." - Forrest Gump

"Now hear this! Private Gump here is gonna be a shrimp boat captain. Well, I tell you what, Gilligan, the day that you are a shrimp boat captain, I will come and be your first mate." - Lt. Dan Taylor

SHRIMP by marine biologists Jack and Anne Rudloe tells the reader all he/she may wish to know about the world's most popular edible crustacean except for the cooking recipes. There's a Forward by Winston Groom, author of the novel Forrest Gump on which the film was based. Perhaps Tom Hanks and Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump and Lt. Dan respectively in the film) should have made cameo appearances, but unfortunately didn't.

To one previously ignorant - me, certainly - about all things shrimp except that they're tasty, SHRIMP would seem to be an admirable overview. The Rudloes' narrative ranges wide: the shrimp's external anatomy, life cycle, principal food species, water habitats, and post-WWII rise in popularity as a delectable edible. Individual chapters also discuss the experience of trawling for wild shrimp, the science of raising farmed shrimp, controversies surrounding the netting of the former - chiefly the collateral deaths of sea turtles, the danger to the wild shrimps' environment posed by such man-made perils as excessive fertilizer run-off in rivers and streams and the destruction of wetlands by land developers, and the effects of disease on the farmed varieties. SHRIMP closes with a fascinating discourse on the medical benefits of the derivatives of the shrimp's exoskeleton, chitin and chitosan; they're virtually miracle remedies under certain circumstances.

The book contains a scattering of black and white photos that range from being reasonably to marginally illustrative and useful.

Like such books as Robbing the Bees: A Biography of Honey--The Sweet Liquid Gold that Seduced the World, Orchid Fever: A Horticultural Tale of Love, Lust, and Lunacy, and Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, SHRIMP may well occupy an esoteric niche on the bookshelf of those readers fascinated by the natural world around them. And perhaps those who just enjoy eating the little critters. Indeed, I've just added a shrimp tray to this weekend's shopping list.

A quick read, providing an overview of U.S. shrimp harvesting. - 2010-02-01
Reviewer Rating:
SHRIMP by J. Rudloe and A. Rudloe is a 250 page book, containing a dozen or so black and white photos and a few diagrams. There is a ten page index. The authors, who are seasoned professionals in the field of marine biology, stick to what they know, namely facts that they learned from their own teaching and research, facts that can be learned by talking to people who work on shrimp boats, and facts from reading local newspapers, e.g., relating to government regulations, ecology, and whatnot.

The entire book is set forth in a chatty manner, depicting specific facts, in the manner of a diary. For example, we read, "The federal agencies had checked so many boats over the years that the shrimpers had almost grown used to being boarded by men in blue with their weapons . . . as Coast Guard Cutter #41319 zoomed away, Paul said, We try to accomodate them, and let them finish their tow, but sometimes . . . we ask them to lift their nets to we can make an inspection . . . we have to catch the man towing without a TED [turtle excluder device] to make a case." (page 155) In other words, the book reads a bit like a fiction book, but it is not a work of fiction.

Within the first few pages, we are introduced to a recitation of sea creatures that are brought up in the shrimping nets, including "trash" fish, e.g., blue crabs, spider crabs, calico crabs, croakers, catfish, bonnethead sharks, sea walnut jellyfish, and orange starfish. We learn about the proper behavior of shrimping nets, "If the net is let out properly so that the large doors spread apart . . . as they are towed. Floats at the top . . . hold it open vertically." (page 6) We learn that removing the "heads," which contains the brain, digestive gland, and gonads, by way of pinching, helps presever the shrimp after it is caught by the shrimping boat (page 12). We also learn that shrimps can be preserved on the boat by brief boiling. Page 16 provides a diagram of a shrimp, showing the cheliped, swimmerets, uropod, and telson. We are told that 4000 species of shrimp fall into various groups, e.g., penaeids (400 species), carideans (2800 species), and opossum shrimp (1,100 species) (these raise their young in pouches). Page 18 shows some photos from a microscope, disclosing shrimp eggs and larvae.

Chapter Three provides a hodge-podge of info on shrimp archeology, on the modern history of shrimping, on shrimp recipes (shrimp'n'grits), adn on shrimp festivals (Shrimp & Petroleum Festival in Louisiana). Chapter 4 provides short blurbs about various shrimp, e.g., needle shrmp, pistol shrimp ("it could cock that claw and blast out a high-pressure jet of water . . ."), penaeid shrimp ("stomachs which are lined with spines called stomach teeth . . . efficient at grinding"). This chapter also informs us of the bait shrimping industry (pages 61-72), which is a cottage industry of small opertions. Bait shrimping is more difficult than shrimping for human food, because bait shrimp must be kept alive.

The book provides juicy tidbits of local color, biology, shrimp industry facts, and government regulations. These tidbits are provided in small, juicy amounts that are just as small and juicy as the shrimps found in an open-air market shrimp cocktail. The book makes an ideal gift for a child, especially for kids living near a shrimping community. In fact, there is nothing in the book that makes it "objectionable" as a gift for kids. My only criticism is a follows. Near the beginning of the book, we are told that some U.S. companies buy shrimp that are raised in southeast Asia, and then put their own label on the package. But the topic of shrimp imports, and the topic of international shrimp economics, is never develped in this book.

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