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Your Shellfish Guide

Feb 1, 2016 | Food|Seafood

There truly is nothing better than sitting down and enjoying a delicious seafood dish. There are plenty of fantastic restaurants in the Jacksonville, FL area, but none of them really compare to Julington Creek Fish Camp. We take a great deal of pride in what we are able to serve up to our customers on a daily basis. With our quality lunch and dinner selections, we can be the ideal destination whether you are looking for a nice work lunch or more of a romantic date night out.  

 

We get questions about where the seafood comes from that we serve up, as well as even more general questions about seafood in general. One of the questions that we get so often is around the terminology of seafood. Specifically, people want to know what exactly falls into the “shellfish” category. You hear seafood and you hear shellfish, but what exactly is the difference?

 

What Is Seafood Compared to Shellfish?

 

So how can you tell the difference between seafood and shellfish? Seafood can include both fish as well as shellfish. This means that a piece of tuna or haddock can be considered seafood, these are types of fish. Shellfish such as lobsters or clams, can also be considered seafood. Shellfish is just an extension of the genre of food that is known as seafood.

 

The reason that you want to differentiate seafood from shellfish is due to the fact that shellfish is biologically different in terms of their make-up. This is why some people can have an allergic reaction to shellfish, but be perfectly fine when they eat a piece of fish alone.

 

Different Types of Shellfish

 

There are even more ways to break down seafood and shellfish as there are actually different types of shellfish out there. The two main types of shellfish are known as crustaceans and mollusks. Crustaceans are shellfish that consist of shrimp, crab and lobster. The mollusks type of shellfish include things such as clams, mussels, scallops, octopus, squid, and even oysters. When you are talking about shellfish from an allergy perspective, some people can be allergic to one type of shellfish, but not the other. That is why you want to understand that there are two different types. If you only have an allergy to the mollusks type of shellfish, you may be perfectly fine to sit down and enjoy a crab or a lobster for a night out.

 

Preparing Decadent Meals

 

It is all about taking these shellfish and turning them into tremendous meals. That is what we are best at doing at the Julington Creek Fish Camp. The chefs that we have at our restaurant work day and night to create the ideal dishes that all of our guests get to enjoy on a daily basis. When you come to Julington Creek Fish Camp, you are going to find is that we work hard to try and create the perfect balance between classic dishes and that unique southern flavor. We can bring together that perfect lobster that you have been seeking out, but add in spices that scream the Jacksonville, FL area to make it that much more unique. Shellfish allows for so much creativity due to the different tastes that they all bring to the table. What you can do with crabs, a lobster, oysters, mussels, and so on will truly blow your mind from a food creativity perspective.
Understanding what shellfish is can be very rewarding as a guest at any seafood restaurant. The more that you know about what you are eating the more you are going to get out of the experience overall. It is never too late to start to learn about seafood, shellfish, the different types of shellfish, and so on. This type of knowledge can help you enjoy meals at our restaurant and also help you prepare meals at your own home as well.  Try us out at Julington Creek Fish Camp and see what we do with shellfish to make it as tasty as ever.