"Steve Calvin" > wrote in message
...
> here. The question was, why keep the shells *in* dishes other than shrimp
> cocktail? And honestly, I take them off of those sometimes.

Funny, as a friend of mine is always trying to convince me to prepare them
without tails. But if I were asked to devein and bread two hundred colossal
tiger shrimp without the tails on, I would tell them I'd need at least 10
extra minutes. And possibly suffer additional cuts. The tail is a great
fender when butterflying. ";^/

I rarely prepare scampi anymoore without the entire shell, legs included,
since I worked at probably the most high-end restaurant in my entire
experience. They insisted on the presentation, using colossals. Shell-on
reduces curling and concentrates flavor, but of course, tail does nothing
like that. The funny thing is, just like you, one wonders, "Ok.. this is a
fine dining restaurant... so why make the customer look like a slob by the
time they get through the meal. Saucy fingerprints all over the place from
peeling the things?" LOL

For me, tail on makes for swifter prep, especially if you use a flapping
move anywhere in the process. Try grabbing a few raw shrimp without tails
and shaking off loose flour or something. I also prefer the presentation.
This ain't rock shrimp. Bhuahahaha.

> Steve
>
> It's not a good idea to squat while wearing spurs.