?
The key point I took from that article I quoted was that the words are often misused as "interchangeable" so asking in, say, a restaurant, for one and not the other will depend on what they think the words mean (see my sig!). I was not aware of the gill anatomical difference or the 2 claws vs 3 claws part and just had the general "prawns are bigger than shrimps" vague distinction. I did, however, have a general feeling that shrimps could come in all sizes and felt the "jumbo shrimp is an oxymoron" comment was a little misinformed. Also, it's not as simple as "prawn or shrimp" given the number of species around.
Do you at least take advantage of that? Because if not, we should switch places so I can get my hands on some tiger prawns...
For Asian cuisine, we use a lot of prawns. Although you'll notice menus refer to shrimp fried rice (because they're shrimp) and, salt and peppered deep-fried prawns (because they're prawns).
In salads and sandwiches, I would be surprised if they're actually putting prawns in them and not just shrimp. It seems to be a marketing ploy
Shock, horror!
Search for shrimps at any of the major online food retailers. They are very different from prawns.) or cockles/mussels. These days London pubs sell prawns by the pint, I suppose as an acknowledgement of a tradition which I bet was ended by Health & Safety, but of course you get them on a plate, not in a glass jar (or paper).I agree with panjandrum. Copperknickers, I was flabbergasted when you you said we don't get shrimp in the UK. Maybe you don't get them in Scotland, but we certainly do in London. As a child (in the sixties) I can still remember stalls down by the river selling pints/half-pints of shrimps (yes, shrimps plural!
Interesting, I would have expected that they would have used French rather than English (and, by the way, our English-French dictionary here says the French use the same word for both.)
