Bought a can in Walmart out of curiosity, I agree with the analogy of "snot in a shell". Must be an acquired taste, a southern thing perhaps.
just to be fair, i don't find the canned ones in the same league as the boiled at home ones. it's a knack to get them just right.
i didn't eat any until the second half of life. had heard of them, but nobody ate the boiled ones in our neighborhood growing up.
