=The crab= is essentially like the lobster, being smaller, and having a sweeter flavor. The soft shell crab is caught just as the old shell is shed, and is highly esteemed as a delicacy. Both lobsters and crabs are cooked in the shell, and if allowed to die naturally before cooking they are uneatable. They may be purchased alive or cooked, and one is surer of their condition when they are bought alive. Twenty-five cents a pound is now an average price for lobsters in shell. Crabs are somewhat less expensive at times, but soft shells are always high-priced. The following table shows the food value of a few of this group in terms of the weight of the 100-Calorie portion. 100-CALORIE PORTIONS OF FISH AND SHELLFISH FRESH FISH ================================================= | WEIGHT OF 100-CALORIE PORTION | KIND |-----------------------------------| | AS PURCHASED | | |(Entrails Removed)| EDIBLE MATERIAL| -------------|------------------|----------------| | Ounces | Ounces | Blue fish | 7.8 | 4.0 | Cod. | 7.6 | 5.5 | Flounder | 12.5 | 6.2 | Haddock | 10.0 | 4.9 | Halibut steak| 3.5 | 2.9 | Mackerel | 4.5 | 2.5 | Salmon | 2.8 | 1.8 | ------------------------------------------------- SALT OR SMOKED FISH ------------------|------------------|---------------- Cod, Salt | 4.4 | 3.4 | Herring, Smoked | 2.2 | 1.2 | Halibut, Smoked | 1.7 | 1.6 | Mackerel, Salt | 1.4 | 1.2 | ------------------------------------------------------ SHELLFISH ------------------------------------------------------ Clams | 6.9 | Crabs | 4.3 | Lobster | 4.2 | Oysters | 7.0 | Scallops | 4.8 | ------------------------------------------------------ =Preserved fish and shellfish.=——_Smoking and salting_ are two old-time methods that are still in use, and smoked salmon, herring, and finnan haddie furnish us well-flavored foods at a reasonable price. Small smoked herring are eaten uncooked, and the other two kinds are excellent broiled, or parboiled and finished in the oven. Salt cod should not be despised, for it is convenient and may be made palatable. Like the meats, the fish preserved by these methods are slightly less available for digestion.