Imitation or counterfeit?

[Joel S. Berson]

At 10/13/2011 03:00 AM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
>No mystery--imitation crab meat is steamed pulverized pollock with
>additional flavorings and texturizers.

I didn't claim it was a mystery, just that I didn't know!

>The process has been around for
>over 50 years and originated in Japan. But in many situations the name
>is shortened to "imitation crab", so the point is not particularly
>important.
>
>Imitation crab is ok, imitation haddock is not--for one thing, imitation
>crab is not billed as crab, imitation haddock is billed as haddock. One
>is a substitute, the other one is a fake. (We also now have imitation
>scallop and imitation lobster made in a manner similar to imitation
>crab--and "imitation scallop meat" would make no sense; there is also
>imitation shrimp, made by a different process--and, at least in Holland,
>the resemblance is more in shape and color than in taste or texture.

Now it would really be interesting if they came up with imitation
lobster in the shell.  Or shrimp.  Then they could even lase identifying marks.

Joel

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