COMPOSITION AND FOOD VALUE OF SHELL FISH

TABLE IV

COMPOSITION AND FOOD VALUE OF SHELL FISH

Food Value

Total

Per Pound

    Name of Fish       Water Protein Fat    Carbohydrates   Ash Calories

Clams, removed       80.8     10.6   1.1           5.2             2.3   340

Crabs, whole           77.1     16.6   2.0           1.2             3.1   415

Lobsters, whole       79.2     16.4   1.8           .4               2.2   390

Oysters, in shell       86.9     6.2    1.2           3.7              2.0   235

Scallops                 80.3     14.8   .1          3.4              1.4   345

TABLE V

SEASONS FOR SHELL FISH

NAME OF FISH                                                SEASON

Clams, hard shelled                                          All the year

Clams, soft shelled                                          May 1 to October 15

Crabs, hard shelled                                          All the year

Crabs, soft shelled                                         March 1 to October 15

Lobsters                                                        All the year

Oysters                                                        September 1 to May 1

Scallops                                                      September 15 to April 1

Shrimp                                                       March 15 to June 1, and                                                            September15 to October 15

SEASONS FOR SHELL FISH

With the exception of clams and lobster, which can be obtained all the year around, shell fish have particular seasons; that is, there is a certain time of the year when they are not suitable for food. It is very important that every housewife know just what these seasons are, so that she will not include the foods in the diet of her family when they should not be used. Table V, which will furnish her with the information she needs, should therefore be carefully studied.

OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND SCALLOPS

OYSTERS AND THEIR PREPARATION

OYSTERS, CLAMS, and SCALLOPS are salt-water fish that belong to the family of mollusks, or soft-bodied animals. They are entirely encased in hard shells, which, though of the same general shape, differ somewhat from each other in appearance. Fig. 25 shows a group of oysters and clams, the three on the left being oysters and the three on the right, clams. Oysters are larger than clams and have a rough, uneven shell, whereas clams have a smooth, roundish shell. The three varieties of mollusks are closely related in their composition and in their use as food, but as oysters are probably used more commonly than the others they are considered first.

COMPOSITION OF OYSTERS.

Oysters occupy a prominent place among animal foods, because they are comparatively high in protein. In addition, they contain a substance that most flesh foods lack in any quantity, namely, carbohydrate in the form of glycogen, and for this reason are said to resemble milk closely in composition. A comparison of the following figures will show how these foods resemble each other:

          WATER       PROTEIN      FAT       CARBOHYDRATE       MINERAL                                                                                       SALTS

Milk    87.0            3.3              4.0            5.0                      0.7

Oysters 86.9         6.2                1.2           3.7                      2.0

Oysters, as will be observed, contain only a small quantity of fat, and for this reason their total food value is somewhat lower than that of milk. A pint of milk has a value of 325 calories, while the same quantity of oysters has an approximate value of only 250 calories. Because of the difference in the cost of these two foods, oysters costing several times as much as milk, the use of oysters is not so cheap a way of supplying food material.