A Terrible Discovery! - Historic Stewed Crab Dish

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[@Odel555q]

John is totally in the pocket of Big Nutmeg.

[@whenmotion]

This man has sold more nutmeg worldwide than 18th century spire barons

[@marcydow9580]

LOL - so funny!

[@uncannysnake]

He IS Big Nutmeg

[@ritaking8827]

Definitely needs an intervention, maybe introduce some cloves, Hey a little cinnamon is what he needs!

[@Stefengris]

I laughed, good one.

[@HNXMedia]

"This is not good. Here try this." Now that's a real friend.

[@vitovtwik]

Sharing is caring

[@johnNJ4024]

Growing up, my older sister used to do that to me all the time. Here, taste this it's awful! You gotta taste this! After the first time, I'd just give her the stink eye and say no. I still have no clue why she still does it today and if I'm around... I say NO!!!

[@EyedocZeller]

@@johnNJ4024 My husband tries this with me. Or with cleaning out the fridge “Here, smell this!” No thanks

[@dinoduelist2219]

And a true friend tries it. Not out of kindness but more out of knowing that it’ll probably be funny

[@Mama_Badazh]

I am reminded of Jeff Foxworthy's comedy skit about the courtesy sniff. Here, you have the courtesy taste. The third guy now has a courtesy taste token that he can cash in with Jon at any given time.

[@punkrock4401]

I love how universal it is for guys when they taste/smell something gross to INSTANTLY need to share it and get their friends to also experience it. There is some sort of primal joy watching your friend also be disgusted.

[@marcusbuckner5582]

Don’t wait til air’s the foulest to take your deepest breath in life…..😂

[@neeru7298]

Lmao, that's so true, me and my friends share terrible food taste tests all the time

[@skilletborne]

Yeah, but the same goes for when guys make something really good Hang out with chef guys, you will get fed incredibly well

[@user-mq6gq1iz8l]

@@skilletborne For free?

[@westerling8436]

Dutch oven

[@thefareplayer2254]

8:15 The fact that the music stops when they taste it is EXTREMELY funny, and an underrated editing gem! Bravo!

[@IOnlyWantYouGone]

was looking for a comment on this, that got me laughing too!

[@Exayevie]

“Maybe we got the recipe wrong, maybe their taste buds were different” Or maybe you just discovered why people refused to eat it more than three times a week!

[@ArchangelExile]

Those were prisoners and servants complaining about eating lobster 3 times a week.

[@BluJean6692]

or maybe they should have added the yolk last like the recipe said? Even just as, like, an experiment?

[@equallywrong]

@@BluJean6692 I agree. You would have gotten scramble egg pieces. Totally different flavor. Plus, light and gentle stirring so the crab pieces do not break up so bad. They screwed this recipe up badly. They should have been lumps of crab and small pieces of egg.

[@vacuousbard6410]

I mean shrimp and lobsters are just wet bugs. Crabs? A militant wet bug!

[@HallsteinI]

@@vacuousbard6410 Crabs are just wet spiders

[@Haedox]

8:15 THE WAY THE MUSIC CUTS OUT 😭😭😭

[@Thickolas]

*record scratch*

[@TheSlavChef]

Laughed harder that i was supposed to :D

[@PinballCollection]

*18th century music stops*

[@bobloblaw2342]

that was perfect editing, bravo!

[@emmareed1787]

YEESS

[@rileynelson1467]

"Fish and seafood... a dish of the poor?" I think as I sit quietly watching this while eating canned tuna

[@1lapmagic]

Poor people now can't afford canned tuna.

[@user-cr4cj1fl8z]

With how easy is today to get your hands on all kinds of food you`ll think sea food will be mostly cheap with few excepciones and idk why people think shelves or crabs are food for the rich when they are easily mass produced. Like for example my country has a big part of it like the whole east border is just beaches and sea right. So finding shelves in buckets in just a day is quite normal yet if you go to a bistro at the beach they`ll charge you almost as much as for a beef stake or something like that and it just doesnt make sense. So i never payed for a restaurant food that i know i can get for cheap easily cuz its all based on making the client believe the lie. If im eating at a place i`ll pick the stuff i dont know cuz its new to me or its rare in my country

[@al-imranadore1182]

@@user-cr4cj1fl8z That's the point of restaurants!!! if you want common food cook it at home.

[@Appalachianasshole41]

​@@al-imranadore1182 no that is not the point of a restaurant its a benefit but absolutely not the point.

[@marielcarey4288]

​@@user-cr4cj1fl8z companies inflate the prices to line their pockets

[@ViliousTorch]

Love how the music stops after a few seconds of eating

[@Tannanson]

“Had a second spoonful - haven’t dropped dead yet.” What an A+++ quote, haha.

[@weekendmom]

And then they made Ryan try it.

[@Anolaana]

Inedible? _MRESteve has entered the chat_

[@calico9046]

@@Anolaana a man of culture I see

[@Muster_Muckee_II]

@@calico9046 "Ooo, Nice hiss."

[@michaelmckeon2138]

I was beginning to wonder if John liked every recipe out of respect, or kindness. Nice to see its his honest opinion he's giving lol.

[@TheBeanHome]

Nah he doesn’t like coffee anything and I think some pickled eggs (or something like it. He tasted it once and he was done lol)

[@adamgoldberg98]

I think they choose ones that sound good mostly and just like old movies the ones we still hear about are the good ones

[@ataricom]

@@adamgoldberg98 how bad are the recipes that didn't make it?

[@bunnyslippers191]

I believe there was a pickled fish recipe that Ryan ate rather a lot of, but that Jon found pretty repulsive. The next day when Jon found out that Ryan had survived the night and felt fine he was rather surprised.

[@PilotTed]

@@TheBeanHome When did he say he didn't like coffee? I remember him doing a ideo on a dish where it was eggs mixed with coffee and he hated it, but as for coffee by itself I don't recall him ever saying he dislikes it.

[@HomekittyL2]

8:10 caught me off-guard enough to get me chuckling, the usual happy post-recipe music starting and cutting off when John's disgust shows

[@Planclanman3]

Lmfaooo I loved the reaction at 8:40 it's like he's always so cheerful and he finally broke character because the dish was so poorly constructed in the recipe lmao. He knew he was about to eat some bullshit.

[@rohunsaigal2576]

The music grinds to a halt too, I like that he didn't bother with the bit when the food tasted like crap lol like it doesn't deserve the character

[@FruitMuff1n]

@@rohunsaigal2576 I loved that the music stopped, made it much funnier lol

[@liberaceboiithe3rd5]

Lmaooo

[@yamiatemyugi]

That’s the reaction of people who have tried something horrible and want their friend to try and find their reaction absolutely hilarious, its also almost a universal reaction as well and absolutely hilarious at that

[@meilinchan7314]

One suspects that this was supposed to be eaten alongside bread.

[@kyle9401]

*Cooks the dish himself and tastes it... Winces* "I'm not sure what's in here" What a great endorsement of the dish! Haha

[@angelahayes7983]

🤣

[@PimpMacSlickBac]

Let's be honest, John influenced that dish a bit too much! Spoiled with pepper and nutmeg

[@aG_oh_so_Sneaky]

@@PimpMacSlickBac lets be honest they didnt seem to vibe good together

[@PimpMacSlickBac]

@@aG_oh_so_Sneaky yeah, definitely not the closest of cooks

[@Sarah.Riedel]

"It doesn't...it doesn't look good" 😂

[@tonlito22]

Now we know why everyone complained about the seafood back then: they cooked it badly.

[@sorencyrano1413]

There is nothing worse than badly cooked seafood. I rarely make it at home, because like white fish it is easy to mess up, and it isn’t a cheap thing to mess up.

[@jurissilins8644]

From what I've read somewhere, what they gave the prisoners was even worse, just mashed paste of sorts, with the shells and everything.

[@Swarbie8D]

@@jurissilins8644 yeah, back when lobster was considered trash food they boiled huge vats of them and just ground them up, shells and all, as food for prisoners. They did it bc lobsters were absolutely everywhere at the time; I just wish lobsters were as common now xD

[@glensegarra7187]

@@Swarbie8D ooh that’s rough... crunchy lobster mush... with the guts and all. Yeh that’s punishment!

[@giancarloduncan2104]

They didn't add enough nutmeg.

[@howlongisnow791]

"maybe it needs another anchovy" "the anchovy is the thing I don't like!"

[@Vilexxica]

I often come back to watch this video solely because the opening never fails to have me in absolute stitches. That undignified *THWAP* as you see the crab stew go airborne and Jon trying to stay in character throughout it just never gets any less hilarious to me 🤣

[@coalcreekdefense8106]

You and me both, partner. It gets me every time.

[@ballisticcranberrypeat7777]

A lot of stewed crab overspray in that shot too lol. Luckily I’m sure the room already smelled bad from just cooking it.

[@Will-my2dl]

"nutmeg?" -"ok thats enough" "n...nutmeg" -"ok ok STOP" "NUTMEG"

[@GeertSawek]

Pepper: "OK, that's a lot" lol

[@coxjohn]

Power move

[@CarlosianBigWang]

That hurt to watch “ok I’m stopping”

[@coolmanjack1995]

Jon's crippling nutmeg addiction begins to affect those around him

[@darrenoday8978]

I couldn't believe this part it was insane why didn't they cut that and start over haha there was real hostility there

[@midwestmatthew9752]

Jon: "...as we savor the flavors and aromas of the 18th century!" Michael: {grimaces and shakes his head}

[@russelltoddinc]

I was waiting for a line like this “...except this one”

[@Taxandrya]

needs nutmeg

[@cleo885]

I loved Michael's face there, really great comment

[@nuyabuisness7526]

One of my favorite stories about lobster comes from a tour guide in Boston. She told a story about how her dad was a lobster fisherman, and they were treated as poor because they often had to eat lobster. How the times have changed...

[@klowen7778]

Yep, though of course that was also coming from a time when all seafood, especially shellfish, was still so plentiful and hadn't been _overfished_ yet!

[@nimomemre6550]

The funny thing about Michael (the cook) was that he continued eating the crab dish while also complaining about it being bad. 😅😅

[@DTheCritical]

Well not gonna waste it lol

[@MidlifeCrisisJoe]

It may be terrible, but the portions are so generous!

[@FAD4LIFE94]

Yeah Im cracking up over that.

[@oRealAlieNo]

The crab and lobster at the time was in clean waters. No plastics. No freak oil spills. No pollution. Wooo. If you could go back in time and freak out the locals by eating the headfat and guts. Wooo...so good. Screw the peasants. They were living like kings.

[@ericchung3177]

Who needs your food to be tasty when it’s been nothing but hardtack and salted meat for months?

[@doctorknow]

Good point

[@TheSlavChef]

It has protein, so it must be good :D

[@paulvontarsus729]

@@TheSlavChef They only cared about their rum ration haa!

[@daveandgena3166]

Yep, eat it fast enough & you won't taste it.

[@TheSlavChef]

@@paulvontarsus729 hahaah, anything is edible with enough RUM

[@davideberhartii6028]

When the camera man says "It doesn't look good" you need to worry.

[@reaper_exd7498]

Camera guy is actually a good cook from what i've seen

[@TheWastelander86]

@@reaper_exd7498 Yup! He's the master baker. And he does not like this recipe.

[@joshpascual7539]

6:30 you can really see the friction going on between these two 🤣

[@Keoffry1]

A half a nutmeg? No? Oh-okay

[@bryanmuster5662]

I love this channel! Such good content, never ever anything even slightly inappropriate, fascinating history and just a friendly, welcoming vibe in general. Great job!

[@sandrajennings1157]

This might be the recipe that the servants were complaining about!

[@arthas640]

You also have to keep in mind that shellfish expires quickly if it isnt kept alive or frozen, and they probably wouldnt be getting nice fresh shellfish.

[@jpkalishek4586]

valid point. I think it might be cooked like that too to try and keep it safer

[@margiechism]

| DINNER GUEST MENU | This guaranteed no Continental Breakfast!

[@DAndyLord]

@@arthas640 Until widespread refrigeration seafood was mostly a costal/extremely wealthy thing. There are a few good documentaries and essays explaining how trans-continental rail/canning/nascent refrigeration tech all came together to make lobster into a fancy food in the American (now global) psyche.

[@SuperAWaC]

@@DAndyLord It's still just a big bottom-feeding sea bug that tastes like a sea bug. I don't get it. It's like people use Lobster as an excuse just eat a ton of butter the most expensive way possible. Fish is so much better and actually has variety. All sea bugs taste roughly the same.

[@Eveseptir]

My friend's parents were french acadians and when they went to school the poor kids had lobster rolls for lunch and the rich kids got baloney sandwiches on white bread.

[@codyshelton7906]

How backwards it is now, lucky poor kids

[@McBlaster666]

Lobsters were considered cockroaches of the sea and often fed to prisoners as a very cheap meal, until they became a delicacy by WW2. The School thought they were being slick.

[@codyshelton7906]

@@McBlaster666 I did only hear about the prisoners being fed lobster in the past. Wasn't aware it was a mass thing in the lower class

[@lovecats6856]

Still can't afford lobster and scallops

[@andrewgodly5739]

I love bologna. Stuff is great fried and goes well with an egg between some bread. I think the real lesson here is that the value of food is arbitrary and ever changing. What's garbage to one person is a delicacy to another.

[@jetcitysinatra7300]

*John* you were right, it needed more Nutmeg . . . Have a blessed and happy holidays to you and yours and may the show be blessed into the next year.

[@trush0t1]

LMAO he just throws a plate of crab on the table. LMAOOOOO the music scratch after the first bite. I love this channel you guys are AWESOME!

[@alexandernorman5337]

Because they ruined it.

[@TheSlavChef]

pure gold!

[@ih82r8]

I agree. The unceremonious resignation of that plate throw and the little bits that went flying tells me everything I have to look forward to.

[@WatchingNinja]

I laughed throughout this video. 🤣

[@MJF1958]

They had probably already tasted it and formed their opinion when that clip was filmed. The disgust is obvious. Lol

[@joshuaclemens1301]

I always love when something tastes awful, cause it's always, "Hey, come try this." And then the laughter and reactions are always gold.

[@LukeL007]

Same thing when you catch whiff of something awful. Your first reaction is to get your friends to smell it as well.

[@jester9159]

@@LukeL007 Hey, as a 'bro' you are obligated to one 'courtesy sniff' when it comes to something awful that might be presented to you by a fellow bro. 😁

[@Fakemarcel]

@@jester9159true dat

[@BlackMetalSparkHead]

THE WAY IT SPLATTED IN THE INTRO

[@Aramis419]

I still come back to this - and when the music stops, it gets me every time! 🤣

[@sneakyfingers]

Jon: "Alright, let's try it!" *happy fiddle music starts playing* Jon and Michael: >_< *record scratch*

[@marka4891]

"More nutmeg?" "John, that's a toxic dose...!" "So.... more, then?"

[@richbuilds_com]

Fun fact: It was used a narcotic in an open prison where the prisoners where allowed to order their own provisions. The prison staff couldn't work out why everyone was ordering so much nutmeg! It's allegedly hallucinogenic (I've never personally tried it) in high concentrations.

[@scottr291]

@@richbuilds_com it’s a really bad hallucinogen in my experience, gives you this terrible grinding headache inducing high when you’re awake and when you sleep it gives you crazy abstract dreams, in my experience anyway. Still the best spice out there though.

[@WeaponOfMyDestructio]

I gonna die doing what I love

[@JaredGillespie]

@@richbuilds_com It's also easy to take a fatal dose. Stick to MJ

[@scrappydoo7887]

Toxic means that you will be tripping balls lol

[@puertoricanboy100]

Oh my goodness this has to be my favorite video. Love to rewatch and see you a suffer and have fun together. 👍

[@fluffybunny5518]

Just discovered the channel. Love the reactions. It is so honest. Will certainly watch more.

[@buildingblocks51]

The fact that Mike keeps tasting it and trying to think of how he can make it taste good really shows how great of a chef he is. I really appreciate that guy and what he has to say.

[@tammymann6292]

Since it called for an egg, I wonder if that was for binding for the breadcrumbs. Maybe it was supposed to be more like a crab cake. (?)

[@psalm91rdwlkfpgrl]

that would make more sense, and possibly taste better

[@tammymann6292]

I wonder if they did that on purpose to see if we could decipher an 18th-century recipe? Sneaky dogs! Hahaha!

[@cynhanrahan4012]

It's specifically called stew, and since food was not wasted, stale bread was a common sauce/gravy/soup thickener along with egg.

[@ValeriePallaoro]

It could be a thickener; they put the egg with the wine and that was wrong; The recipe should be wine in crab meat, egg in bread crumbs and use the egg/breadcrumbs to thicken the wine/crabmeat. It should be an American gravy like mix to pour over biscuits. It should be wonderful.

[@ValeriePallaoro]

@Conrad Comics The wine and the anchovy would be a fishstock replacement, I think

[@rinrat6754]

This is joyful. Thank you, for this and all of the rest.

[@claireford2]

Best intro yet. Y'all are hilarious and dedicated and I'm grateful for both.

[@staticbb]

"STOP IT THANK YOU" - Yet another guest undergoing nutmeg torture on Townsends Family Cookin' Kitchin'

[@sweetaudrina_]

Haha!!!! I came to find this comment 😆

[@renderlessgames]

@@sweetaudrina_ Well do it again!

[@RadarProductions]

Hilarious

[@Cheyne_TetraMFG]

“‘Bout a little bit more?” Lmaooooo Jon loves his nutmeg

[@Tanookicatoon]

The first thing I learned as a Navy cook was that nutmeg was like salt. A little goes a LONG LONG way. Who the hell puts nutmeg on seafood?!?!

[@jamesthereaper7]

What's it called when a crab is walking to it's part time job? A side hustle.

[@nunnabeeswax2397]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@TheSlavChef]

I'm on a no seafood diet to lose weight It's low crab.

[@ih82r8]

I laughed way too hard at this XD

[@xenoscoot]

🤣🤣🤣

[@thegrim418]

That's the most dad thing I've ever heard in my life.

[@jacobh1833]

This is one of my favorite episodes due to how real it feels.

[@DashsChannel]

Prisoners in the 18th century: "Stop feeding us lobster more than three times a week!" Prison guards: "Don't be so shellfish!"

[@CharmEng89]

"...anchovies and... NUTMEG" Yup, there it is

[@brandonswitzer6957]

Precisely, get rid of the nutmeg and I’m sure this dish would be more than palatable. I would also sub out the tinned anchovies for some “white fish” of some sort, although an oily fish may be a better fit for others tastes. But I really do think the admission of nutmeg caused this dish to come in subpar.

[@deaconstjohn4842]

@Dirty Cracker well....pineapple on pizza is another foul dish lol

[@72wh27]

@@brandonswitzer6957 Well in the nutmeg's defense, it's meant to be used sparingly bcuz its so pungent. Pretty sure a light dash would've been more than sufficient. This dude was piling it on with a grater like it was friggin' parmesan cheese! 🤦‍♂️

[@changer_of_ways_suspense_smith]

Yeah, he's leaning into the meme too much. He really needs to cut it out with the nutmeg.

[@davidortiz3094]

@@deaconstjohn4842 Tread lightly

[@christophermitchell-whites403]

Being from Baltimore, and knowing my way around a crab, this was a primitive recipe for crab cakes. They have all the right ingredients, but they should have used WAY less liquid and WAY more breadcrumbs to form a cake for frying in the pan over the fire. I'm sure they used pasteurized crab as well which doesn't have a great flavor. Back to the drawing board and think cod cake instead of stew. It'll come out way better!

[@bootyspoon4675]

How bout dem O's hon?

[@sarahb2623]

This was my take on it as they were adding the egg, I thought, "wait, you have a crab cake recipe you're making mush out of?"

[@ng3579]

As a cook of 10 years at 29. I have a decent amount of experience and I definitely thought crab cakes too. Definitely less white wine and a lot more breadcrumb, otherwise it’s just a hot crab salad type of situation

[@NorHeadHunter]

It also reminded me of fish gratin, needs less liquid as you said.

[@BMarie774]

I was wondering if it was going to be somewhat like a condensed Maryland cream of crab soup. Nope. Nope. Not even similar.

[@splitatorium]

I'm guessing the anchovies that were mentioned were the salted and dried kind. If that's the case then that would be the one that will bring the necessary salty/savory flavor to the dish.

[@Kate-qu2rw]

Interesting, I watch some historical channels about kitchen, mostly in medieval times and in XVIII century, and what I noticed is that most of the food that was really cheap then, now became really expensive. I love to watch such shows, thank you for making one!

[@avian68tb]

Rye, even whole wheat bread was considered peasant food in the medieval period

[@fl260]

The cook doesn't have to feel bad at all... this wasn't his fault. He did his best and followed the recipe. That music cutting off was the funniest thing on this channel so far. 🤣

[@danielvanr.8681]

Crazy theory: maybe the alcohol of the wine hadn't been completely burnt off? I imagine that the egg yolk would solidify pretty quickly, perhaps thus "trapping" the wine, causing the "yuck!" effect? Maybe it'd be better to first add crab and bread into the frying pan, then add the wine, burn off the alcohol, and then stir in the egg yolk? Just my tuppenceworth. 😎

[@rach2909]

@@danielvanr.8681 I'd say possibly even cutting the "beloved" nutmeg all together, replacing wine with some cream or milk and some salt maybe with the crab cooked more first? Making it more like kedgery that way a very nice dish by the 19th century (thank you for that recipe btw Mrs. Crocumb!)

[@vattmann1387]

@@rach2909 Honestly I'm a fan of just boiling in salt water then adding salt, pepper and some citrus etc and I'm happy. Hell, it doesn't even need citrus or pepper lol :)

[@OkMakuTree]

A food that cannot be saved by Nutmeg? OH NO

[@nessamillikan6247]

An unreal thought-nutmeg is the thing that likely killed it!

[@lorigoodwin269]

I love your videos! I was skeptical from the start of this one, impressed you tasted it! Loved everyone's faces! 😂

[@kvly8]

Im glad to see you guys enjoy a laugh once in awhile

[@parisite99]

18th century poor Americans: “I sure am tired of eating lobster bisque and crab legs, we gotta find some real food!” 🤣

[@HaggisVitae]

I cannot even imagine! Those are two of my all time favorite things!

[@dfhellraiser4td]

Someone, get me a time travel machine!

[@alexanderkupke920]

I remember that I was once told certain fish here in Germany was poor men's food. Not only on the coast, but also along the rivers. Especially salmon and eel, things everyone could get by catching it himself as any game was considered property of the regional lords, early, counts etc. Or not available in the towns and cities back then. Hard to imagine that salmon was poor men's food on the one hand or that you could catch anything edible from the Rhine. A few years ago if you would catch anything you would have been worries about glowing in the dark after eating it.

[@grzegorzbrzeczyszykiewic3338]

amazing how so many foods from over a hundred years ago that were originally " poor people foods" are now considered foods for wealthier people. lobster, crab, clams, salmon, and even cavier were all foods that people hated for how cheap and common they were , but now people can't get enough of it.

[@danielyu8022]

@@grzegorzbrzeczyszykiewic3338 At the same time. There were former "upper class" foods that have become cheap foods in modern times. Pineapples, bananas, chicken, white bread, and pasta.

[@TheWilkReport]

Not every historical recipe is going to go over well. Sometimes, there is a good reason it fell out of favor.

[@Matadurr]

More like...out of FLAVOR! (I'll see myself out...)

[@LuisAldamiz]

A variant of this is high cusine, so it's probably the anchovy. English taste for fish is sometimes weird.

[@crystalh450]

@@LuisAldamiz yeah, they lost me there too. Thanks, but no thanks. I think maybe some of these kinds of things were maybe acquired tastes and people just trying to make due with what they had access to. Maybe it would be better without the anchovies?

[@alexanderkupke920]

@@LuisAldamiz tho only edible thing with anchovies coming to my mind is fermenting them into worcestershire sauce

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@alexanderkupke920 - I was taught that "anchovies are the ham of the sea", what means like the greatest thing outside of land, because in land that's Iberian ham. Also the taste somewhat similar. But, unlike ham, I would not use them for anything. Also nutmeg is for sweets, omelettes and backpain, never heard of nutmeg with seafood.

[@amadeusamwater]

Finally we get to see a Townsend cooking disaster. Always nice to have new experiences!

[@ErokLobotomist]

This might be my favourite cooking video so far. Best reactions so far lol

[@trissytama6131]

The way John tries to hype himself up by stating he’s liked almost every single recipe is one of the funniest body language betrayals. It was like he knew it would taste foul.

[@tim777us]

Yeah. He was just looking at it, saying "I don't know..."

[@zkring6450]

Yeah. It seems as if they possibly tried it beforehand. Conspiracy abounds🤔

[@sorrenblitz805]

In one of their Livestreams I'm pretty sure he said he kinda knew from the recipe it wasn't going to be very good.

[@Ornithopter470]

Possibly from the smell.

[@TaleDreamer]

Top 10 anime betrayals of settler times.

[@rkhale02]

I love the cook in this "I had a second spoonfull, haven't dropped dead yet" 😭

[@nicemomasmr]

He was in another episode, he made Scottish eggs I think

[@sorrenblitz805]

@@nicemomasmr He's been in a bunch. Michael Dragoo brings up some pretty obscure recipes and loves using double Brazers when he cooks.

[@Belenus3080]

That’s a ringing endorsement by the standards of colonial English cuisine

[@davidfulton179]

That's a ringing endorsement! Put it on the box! LOL!

[@matthewspies6523]

I never thought i see the day you didnt like the recipe! Super funny and by golly you are so enthusiastic, i hope to become like you someday! Keep on keepin on!❤

[@benallan1752]

Nothing makes me feel better about the sloop and gruel I consume than these videos. It was a wonderful opening poem. :)

[@geraldrob5150]

Having worked in supermarkets I have witnessed as much as half of the seafood seen displayed in the cases thrown out. That's why seafood is so expensive, and it's why our fisheries are being depleted. Almost all seafood has to come in frozen because quantities of fresh can't be kept for more than a couple of days. Oily fishes like Salmon (and trout-basically the same family) are not fish that freeze well and are shipped from a farm (or wild-caught, often flown in.) I think Salmon's popularity drives its sale in restaurants and in grocery but still so much is thrown away. The point is because there is such waste there is much markup. This causes seafood to be priced out of the diets of many families, which in turn leads to more waste and more mark up and depleted stock and then more thrown away etc., etc. The price of seafood also puts it out of reach of younger cooks who experiment with different foods. Many can afford to take a loss on a recipe that uses boneless, skinless, chicken breast at $4.99 per pound over a recipe that calls for Turbot at $12.99 per pound. In chain grocers, the price of seafood can even be exorbitant in coastal areas, especially tourist areas because many local fishermen have given way to larger corporate fleets (or sell exclusively to corporations) and aquaculture who seek higher markup for the sake of investor profits. Locals do however know where they can still get fresh fish for a reasonable cost. One thing I loved about living in Northern Virginia, along the Potomac, near the coast was the ability to pull up to a roadside convenience store and buy blue crab by the bushel almost as cheaply as I can buy peaches at the roadside stands in the Carolinas in season!

[@jolonghthong5377]

Why wouldn’t they make them less expensive to get them off the shelves?

[@JonponMusic]

Yeah, there are very few fresh fish/meat counters left in the main supermarkets here in the UK and where they do have them, it's an incredibly overwhelming smell of fish that tells me it's way past its best! Not very appealing at all and it's why I tend to have to go frozen or tinned as an (almost) always fresher tasting option! As crazy as that sounds heh. I agree on the prices as well, for sure it is way of reach for most and eventually I probably won't be able to be as selective!

[@RagnarokCo]

@@jolonghthong5377 Don't question him. He's worked in supermarkets.

[@waddell7354]

And this is why I catch my own, if the salmon I catch isn't eaten in a few days, we smoke it because we k ow we will never eat it if it gets frozen

[@macdjord]

"Thanks for joining us as we -savour- _endure_ the flavours and the aromas of 18th century cooking."

[@dualDisc]

LMAOO

[@haunted_autumn]

This was a real delight! .. not so much for those of you who had to ingest it.. but what a joy to behold!

[@a-very]

John seems so genuinely happy… It makes me miss simpler times.

[@BlankPicketSign]

Me in the 18th Century: _"Crab, Lobster? SURE! Just boil it and give me some salt, butter, and garlic! I'll be happy!"_ Every noble within a mile: _"I sense a disturbance in my purse..."_

[@jep9092]

Ikr

[@Ilovemahmochi]

This is what Robert Pattinson ate when he went crazy in The Lighthouse

[@matthewhaddad2897]

But ye like me lobstar

[@BMassey1987]

HARK!!!

[@BigMikeMcBastard]

Keepin' secrets, are ye?

[@keithpatrick156]

Needs more kerosene

[@markg999]

@SonofEyeaboveall Effoff More tall tales

[@kikomussolini]

In Portugal it's called "açorda", in my humble opinion the egg yolk should be the last thing to add to the crab and bread. While everything is hot, take off the heat and add the yolk. As always great content!

[@ironmanandspidyroc]

i respect this episode, the best evolutions of cooking and everything else.. are the fails! keep it up

[@chrysanthemum8233]

When my mom was a little girl in the early 50s they had a lot of lobster for Lent -- because they were poor and it was cheap. It was considered "trash" even that recently!

[@seronymus]

Now a lobster roll is about $16... And I'm 22 :(

[@Scrimjer]

Sea bugs

[@SpeakShibboleth]

It's still pretty cheap in places where it's harvested. You can buy good, fresh lobsters for 2-3 dollars a pound if you live near the coast of new england. And they'll be better than any you'll find in the supermarket.

[@Imgonnakmsstg]

@@Scrimjer delicious sea bugs

[@thejasonbourne]

It still is...trash.

[@Warui88]

Something about a crab dish being mediocre just hits me hard.

[@trygveskogsholm5963]

It's not natural. All you need is butter and salt... how can you ruin it?

[@trygveskogsholm5963]

@asdrubale bisanzio You're almost right... sometimes you need to remove the non-butter contaminants....

[@Thaumazo]

@@trygveskogsholm5963 Cooked crab by itself + butter is amazing. But it can also be eaten with things other than butter. Chinese king crab with ginger and scallions is tasty. I don't know what's going on with the nutmeg and anchovies in this dish though.

[@MrLobstermeat]

@@trygveskogsholm5963 Its easy to ruin it!!! Just cook it to long... Do Not over cook seafood..

[@healinggrounds19]

I love your avatar picture.

[@MyDoodad]

I appreciate you guys showing the humor in it.

[@billtuttle809]

This channel is such a gem!

[@draconity]

The problem could be that the legs were stewed. Crab only needs to be cooked very briefly, and should never be cooked twice, or it'll be ruined. If you overcook crab, it gets a strong, fishy, nasty flavor and smell. It sounds like whoever made this recipe just had no idea how to cook crab, and didn't know how to cook it to be palatable.

[@MrAsaqe]

Lack of refrigeration and the quick decomposition of shellfish means that overcooking was the only safe way to go.

[@draconity]

@@MrAsaqe How so? You can do all this today with no refrigeration and not overcook the shellfish. Why is refrigeration needed? For this recipe, you kill the animal, remove the meat, and cook.

[@MrAsaqe]

@@draconity Crab, shrimp and Lobster have bacteria in their flesh that causes quick decomposition and a rancid smell upon dying if cooking quickly.

[@draconity]

@@MrAsaqe Okay, but how can we cook them today just fine with no refrigeration involved?

[@relativexistence505]

@@draconity there is refrigeration involved today.

[@ShellyS2060]

I had a dear friend from Maine who said her grandmother used to hide the lobster stew in the fridge when people came over. The recipe she showed me would go for, like, $39 in a restaurant today!

[@michaelcohen9363]

$39 is such an oddly specific number... strange.

[@aymiewalshe982]

My grandfather (I'm also from Maine) wouldn't touch lobster for the same associations. "Our family didn't climb up from the ditch of poverty to eat garbage feeding ocean bugs" is a pretty close quote.

[@lylesloth1275]

fake news until u share the recipe

[@prens19]

@@michaelcohen9363i was just about to comment the same thing haha

[@ikybaiiki]

$39 dollars 😂 if you said $50 or $100 I may of believe you

[@barrymckockinner9292]

I love watching your show in the morning with my cofee

[@vbuffy5952]

That was great, lol. You guys made my day. Even back then, there were probably a few dishes that most would not like... or even hate, lol.

[@WhimsyCourier]

My 5 year old son has seen enough of Townsends' videos that he said, "Maybe it needs more nutmeg". XD

[@pravin7541]

Awwwwww hahahah hope y’all are doing fine during these trying timws

[@AlexBigShid]

Lets be honest; No he didn't

[@Satellite_Of_Love]

That's great! One day our dear John is going to release a video entitled "It Was All About The Nutmeg". "Welcome to 18th Century...look, it's never been about the 18th century, or cooking, or history! It's always been all about the nutmeg! I'VE SEEN THE FUTURE, AND IT'S NUTMEG! HAPPY NOW?! WAKE UP AND SMELL THE NUTMEG!"

[@saintpoli6800]

“And a little nutmeg” *oh no*

[@saintpoli6800]

@rockman fan It’s a running joke that he’s addicted to nutmeg, so whenever it’s mentioned we make jokes about it.

[@Revrett]

I’m from a commercial fishing town and stewed crabs are a favorite. Your recipe was a lot different than ours. Great video.

[@kolossarthas]

i keep coming back to this video, hilarious.

[@joshwoods7641]

"Interesting" aka the Northerner version of "Bless your heart."

[@nancy9478]

Lol so very true...

[@TheOneZenith]

From Michigan. Can confirm.

[@grindcoreninja6527]

From Ohio, can also confirm.

[@skeetsmcgrew3282]

Sometimes it really does mean its interesting. But when its bread, wine, and eggs with crab, yeah thats not interesting at all lol

[@joanhoffman3702]

🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@predatorfe]

My heart aches saying this, but i think the nutmeg is killing the flavour in this recipe. It just does not go well with seafood. Especially when mixed with anchovi wich is a natural flavour amplifier. Try the same recipe with a bit of garlic instead of nutmeg and i'm sure it will taste great. Garlic does a great job at enhancing seafood flavour!

[@feralbluee]

i think you’ve hit the crab on the carapace. :) 🦀

[@luke_fabis]

Nutmeg is a must-have for pickled herring with onions.

[@THEMANWITHTHEYELLOWHAT.]

And butter instead of white wine

[@flyushkifly]

what about the huge pinches of pepper? :-p

[@StoneOfMoon]

Maybe a bit more breadcrumbs to soak up the excess liquid so it had more of a form and shape than a blob!

[@edgarmorales6715]

Great one, I laughed at the end. Keep up the great work

[@honiideslysses12]

As a chef from the New Orleans area and we love our crabs down here. Now that the weather is beginning to warm up we'll have soft shells!

[@Ditka-89]

When the historical cooking music abruptly stopped I cracked up lmao

[@Myrtle2911]

"I don't know if our cat would eat that." 😂

[@EarlyMusicDiva]

I adore shellfish, but my cats don't care for it. If I give them a bit of shrimp or crab to taste, they sniff it and look at me like "Okay, Mom, not funny. How about some canned tuna?"

[@seanlavoie2]

Really eye opening history lesson and even bad recipe can shed light on what the past was like.

[@porkpork2169]

man i could binge these old fashioned cooking videos all day.

[@jarinazf9683]

Just had one of the biggest laughs I have had in weeks. Even a "fail" is a success on this channel. Love you guys and Michael is always a treat to see.

[@lolabunny6364]

Jon: "About a half a Nutmeg? A little bit more?" The tone of his voice says "Let's go all in- we need MORE....No? Ok."

[@Aschwarz93]

The music cutting out after the first bite... too funny!

[@BygPhattyPlus]

This will always be my favorite episode!

[@selfloathinggameing]

With egg, breadcrumbs,and anchovy, this seems like a precursor to a crab cake

[@anotherkenlon]

Yeah, I think the biggest mistake was adding so small of an amount of breadcrumbs.

[@aeugenegray]

@@anotherkenlon I was gonna say too much water, certainly seems like a crab cake

[@CheeseBacon21]

The music stopping after the bite...*chefs kiss* This seems like a food that was just truly there to keep you alive.

[@nessamillikan6247]

Crazy to think that someone liked it enough to document it that exact way!

[@TrabberShir]

A simpler use of only a subset of these ingredients can make something that would be better, at last to modern tastes. This is definitely not a survival food.

[@davidstancil5516]

6:33 A moment when I thought I would see two men kill each other over half a shaving of nutmeg

[@jamesbuchanan4414]

My poor Maryland heart is crying out for Old Bay...

[@samuski36]

Peasant: I had lobster for dinner! Aristocrat: Oh you poor thing!

[@NaturalBornK]

Aristocrat comes back to life this age: oh god i'm poor , can i have a lobster vendor: sure thal be 100 dollar Aristocrat: wait what?

[@sorrenblitz805]

Time traveler from 2021: What the...Oh I'm about to be a very rich man.

[@jonahzaslow7244]

Lobstah

[@louisazraels7072]

honestly cooked like they used to, seafood is a nightmare, have you ever had overcooked lobster?

[@samuski36]

@@louisazraels7072 Yes, the very first time I tried it, I was in Mexico. They had grilled it and it was all rubbery! I thought that was normal for years until I got to try some really good tender lobster, so good!

[@ramblinevilmushroom]

"place over a gentle charcoal heat" *Puts it over an open flame.*

[@PulsePersonalTraining]

"add a little black pepper" ::Adds in 3 grams::

[@visceratrocar]

--"add a little nutmeg." Adds half a nutmeg.

[@CallanElliott]

In this case means low temp, not necessarily not open.

[@ramblinevilmushroom]

@@CallanElliott An open wood flame is VERY HOT. Most fire cooking is done either on a thermal mass like a rock, or clay oven, or on low coals. A google search and bare bones research tells me that for there to even be a flame from wood, the material must be at least 500 degrees. What do you think eggs do at 500 degrees? They don't cook, they curdle. The meat probably dissolved into a sludge of strange compounds. I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be a nice pudding consistency with chunks of nicely cooked shellfish. Instead it became curdled egg and crustacean goop.

[@CallanElliott]

@@ramblinevilmushroom Did your research tell you how much of that heat is lost to the surrounding air, how much is transfered into the pan, how much heat is then lost by the pan, and finally how much of that heat actually gets into the food.

[@ozgott1415]

This is one of my favorite episodes!

[@nobillclinton]

Thanx for the chuckles

[@KrazyKaiser]

"Maybe we did the recipe wrong, or maybe their taste buds were different from ours." Or maybe the reason they all hated crab and lobster so much was that they sucked at cooking it lol

[@psalm91rdwlkfpgrl]

that's my theory. i think this dish is probably just disgusting and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

[@foosmonkey]

Ditch the nutmeg and anchovy, replace it with sea salt, thyme, and a dash of lemon juice. Cook quickly on a hot fire instead of slowly stewing it.

[@abonynge]

@@foosmonkey In other words, scrap the entire recipe and make something more modern where we actually enjoy eating this animal.

[@kdaltex]

You’re fond of me lobster ain’t ye?

[@ActuallyJozu]

@@kdaltex nice