5 ms·

Yumm... I can't wait for the shellfish version! I would love to try shrimp again and find out what all the fuss is about with lobster.

rangibaby 9y ago
Don't expect too much lobster (like caviar) is basically a Veblen good unless you live somewhere you can get it very cheap
- ghaff 9y ago
  You'd have to convince me that lobster is a Veblen good. Yes, it's often priced as a luxury good once you get away from the New England coast--and sometimes even there--but that's not the same thing as saying higher prices increase demand. I expect the restaurant selling $25 lobster rolls would sell more if they were a more reasonable $12 but they might not make as much money. I do like lobster when the price is reasonable. What is true is that it's very delicate so it's really wasted in things like lobster mac and cheese.
  - Retric 9y ago
    We used to use Lobster as prison food / dog food because nobody liked it. It's mostly a tasteless meat which has become more popular as westerners have shifted to blander foods. http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/03/26/394339284/how-snobbery-helped-take-the-spice-out-of-european-cooking http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/03/26/394339284/how...
    - ghaff 9y ago
      Well, it was extremely plentiful and cheap--which led to a sort of stigma being attached to it. Lobster is also very delicate; if it's not prepared super-fresh, it's not very good. Food fashions aren't always rational though. It seems to have become popular largely when people from New York and DC started vacationing up in New England in the 1800s.
    - sageikosa 9y ago
      It holds butter real well, without it soaking in too much.
      - eric_h 9y ago
        This. Lobster is an excellent vehicle for butter.
  - beagle3 9y ago
    Higher prices increase demand are called giffen goods iirc. Veblen goods are goods that people buy to signal their higher status. (No opinion on whether lobsters outside of New England are Veblen goods. Am vegetarian)
    - ghaff 9y ago
      They both have inverted demand curves. Veblen goods because of status or because price becomes a signal. Giffen because of substitution effects. It's not clear that Giffen Goods actually exist.
- Filligree 9y ago
  Lobster is tasty, and kind of an unusual experience if it's your first time. Depending on how much you value experiences, it may be worth it even if it's expensive -- I wouldn't know, it's cheap in this area. Caviar is still tasty, but not fundamentally different from, say, peanut butter. It's something you spread on bread. I don't think I'd bother with it. If you do get some, try putting sliced, hard-boiled egg in a sandwich, caviar on top of the eggs. That's a great combination.
- greglindahl 9y ago
  Veblen goods aren't supposed to go up in price as supplies increase. See the graph in https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-05-18/maine-is-drowning-in-lobsters https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-05-18/maine-is-...
koolba 9y ago
Lobster is okay. Crab is where the flavors at!
matwood 9y ago
I'm not sure what the fuss is about lobster, but I would hate to give up crab and oysters. I love standing around a fire in the winter shucking and eating oysters.
- dsfyu404ed 9y ago
  Lobster is like crab but better and with a much better time spent cracking shells to time spent eating food ratio. If you've eaten lobster crab just feels like a waste of time and effort (but it's less messy so it lends itself better to being eaten in a restaurant).
  - matwood 9y ago
    I've eaten tons (possibly literally ;) ) of both, and the body meat of blue crab is much better than any lobster I've ever had. I'm not saying lobster is bad, but it's possibly overrated. At the end of the day, I would take oysters over both because I prefer salty to sweet. A fresh local oyster from the water that morning either raw or lightly steamed is delicious.
gehwartzen 9y ago
My wife has a allergic reaction to shrimp. Interestingly she can eat most wild caught shrimp without issue but has a pretty distinct reaction to the farm raised type (oral swelling, itching, hives). I don't know enough about the difference between the two to know why this is. Maybe farmed are a different species, or it's the diet they are exposed to, or they are treated with something.

rangibaby 9y ago

Don't expect too much lobster (like caviar) is basically a Veblen good unless you live somewhere you can get it very cheap

ghaff 9y ago
You'd have to convince me that lobster is a Veblen good. Yes, it's often priced as a luxury good once you get away from the New England coast--and sometimes even there--but that's not the same thing as saying higher prices increase demand. I expect the restaurant selling $25 lobster rolls would sell more if they were a more reasonable $12 but they might not make as much money. I do like lobster when the price is reasonable. What is true is that it's very delicate so it's really wasted in things like lobster mac and cheese.
- Retric 9y ago
  We used to use Lobster as prison food / dog food because nobody liked it. It's mostly a tasteless meat which has become more popular as westerners have shifted to blander foods. http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/03/26/394339284/how-snobbery-helped-take-the-spice-out-of-european-cooking http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/03/26/394339284/how...
  - ghaff 9y ago
    Well, it was extremely plentiful and cheap--which led to a sort of stigma being attached to it. Lobster is also very delicate; if it's not prepared super-fresh, it's not very good. Food fashions aren't always rational though. It seems to have become popular largely when people from New York and DC started vacationing up in New England in the 1800s.
  - sageikosa 9y ago
    It holds butter real well, without it soaking in too much.
    - eric_h 9y ago
      This. Lobster is an excellent vehicle for butter.
- beagle3 9y ago
  Higher prices increase demand are called giffen goods iirc. Veblen goods are goods that people buy to signal their higher status. (No opinion on whether lobsters outside of New England are Veblen goods. Am vegetarian)
  - ghaff 9y ago
    They both have inverted demand curves. Veblen goods because of status or because price becomes a signal. Giffen because of substitution effects. It's not clear that Giffen Goods actually exist.
Filligree 9y ago
Lobster is tasty, and kind of an unusual experience if it's your first time. Depending on how much you value experiences, it may be worth it even if it's expensive -- I wouldn't know, it's cheap in this area. Caviar is still tasty, but not fundamentally different from, say, peanut butter. It's something you spread on bread. I don't think I'd bother with it. If you do get some, try putting sliced, hard-boiled egg in a sandwich, caviar on top of the eggs. That's a great combination.
greglindahl 9y ago
Veblen goods aren't supposed to go up in price as supplies increase. See the graph in https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-05-18/maine-is-drowning-in-lobsters https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-05-18/maine-is-...

koolba 9y ago

Lobster is okay. Crab is where the flavors at!

matwood 9y ago

I'm not sure what the fuss is about lobster, but I would hate to give up crab and oysters. I love standing around a fire in the winter shucking and eating oysters.

dsfyu404ed 9y ago
Lobster is like crab but better and with a much better time spent cracking shells to time spent eating food ratio. If you've eaten lobster crab just feels like a waste of time and effort (but it's less messy so it lends itself better to being eaten in a restaurant).
- matwood 9y ago
  I've eaten tons (possibly literally ;) ) of both, and the body meat of blue crab is much better than any lobster I've ever had. I'm not saying lobster is bad, but it's possibly overrated. At the end of the day, I would take oysters over both because I prefer salty to sweet. A fresh local oyster from the water that morning either raw or lightly steamed is delicious.

gehwartzen 9y ago

My wife has a allergic reaction to shrimp. Interestingly she can eat most wild caught shrimp without issue but has a pretty distinct reaction to the farm raised type (oral swelling, itching, hives). I don't know enough about the difference between the two to know why this is. Maybe farmed are a different species, or it's the diet they are exposed to, or they are treated with something.