[citanul]

Diablo,

I think my favorite lobster foods I've eaten have starred lobster that had been hacked in to bits: Lobster risotto, and a baked lobster & pineapple dish I had at some random seafood place in Mexico. I can understand not being in to it, as many people believe (understandably) that they are just conduits for whatever citrusy/buttery sauce you feel like putting around. But hey, I've never discriminated against anything else on the basis of being nothing but a good sauce transporter. I'm not really a fan of dismantling the damn things myself, and I've never really found a huge lump of lobster to be the most efficient presentation. Thus, steakhouse can't be my favorite places to do a lobster.

Mussels I really like. Mussels with marinara is good, but kind of boring and mostly relies on the marinara for taste. Mussels that have been steamed with beer, onions, and garlic - now that's a keeper. One of my favorite dishes in Chicago is a fire roasted mussels served with a butter sauce and sort of coated with a hot spice mixture. But like lobster, a lot of the time when you're eating mussels, it's really for the other stuff, and depending on the presentation and preparation it's often more work than it's worth... I guess shellfish just seem to have less individual taste and edibility than "fish fish," and become butter transporters more than anything else. I do agree on crabcakes though, they are almost always good if you get them anywhere decent.

jeffnc,

Whatever dude, you're totally in the right here. There's hots that have flavors (and jalepenos and even jabaneros have flavor that is not just heat) and then there's just hot for pain sake. There's no great reason to "up your tolerance" in order to be able to suffer just a bit less when you are suffering. There's ways of prepping jalapenos that involve less heat. If you want to prep something at home that will accomplish this to see if you actually like jalapeno flavor, try making a guacamole, and putting in a couple jalapenos. When prepping them before chopping, halve them lengthwise (or even quarter) and remove all seeds and as much of the white connective tissue as you can. The pepper will still have some heat, but you'll get much less, and much more of the "fruit" flavor. All you're really missing out on is: pain, buying more beers, machismo, and the endorphine rush. (Not to say there's anything wrong with any of those things.)

7on,

Wtf, who is serving you cartilage and tendon and telling you you're supposed to like it?

All,

Tomato juice, yuck.