WHEN I was growing up, my parents always bought shrimp in the shell. Why buy them peeled when the shells, boiled into an intense shrimpy glaze, add such great flavor to risotto and bouillabaisse?

It was a convergence of their thrifty and epicurean tendencies, falling along the same lines as making pâté out of livers collected from the cavities of chickens (back when you could still find the giblet pack in there) and brewing broth from whatever kitchen odds and ends were on hand  lamb necks, pork bones, mushroom trimmings.

Naturally, because of this, as soon as I moved out, I bought only shelled shrimp. I didn’t want to bother peeling the squishy, damp creatures myself. Plus, cooking for one meant that I didn’t need to stockpile shrimp glaze in the freezer. When I wanted shrimp glaze, my parents just brought me some.

I might never have reconsidered my shell-off inclinations if not for Fresh Direct.

Recently, wanting to buy the company’s most environmentally friendly shrimp  wild-caught, from the Gulf of Mexico  I had no choice but to get them shell and all.