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wrote:
> I think it is the faint taste of iodine that is present in the best uni
> and other very fresh seafood.
>
> I saw some uni in a wooden box that they were selling in the Asian
> chain market called 99 Ranch Market, Phoenix, AZ branch, a couple of
> weeks ago, so i bought it, $9.99. It was mediocre at best.
>
> Then i had some added to my chrirashi at my favorite sushi joint in
> Tucson, and it was, as usual, very good.
>
> But the best uni I've had was the kind that was in the sea urchins that
> I used to buy fresh at the Italian market in the Bronx before they
> stopped selling them. That was a different kind of uni, coarser,
> somewhat darker coloured, delicious, more of that "iodine" taste...I've
> never seen that kind in restaurants. Perhaps its all being exported to
> Japan now.
>
> It came from Maine, so if you're up there, you can probably find your
> own at the beach. Eule Gibbons tells you how - and that must be the
> very best of all!
>
>
>
> ww
>

The vast majority of Maine uni is without a doubt being exported to
Japan. Another "trash" shellfish that has turned into big business on
the waterfront. In season it's the only uni served at Benkay in
Portland. Will have to check out how to find it on the beach, I've yet
to see a whole urchin on the beach here in Maine I think the gulls get
to them first.

Jessica