Seafood with Cheese

Anyone familiar with cooking shows knows that combining fish and cheese is often discouraged. However, the roots of this belief are harder to track down. It may trace back to medieval medicine, when fish was considered prone to rapid “corruption” and cheese was thought to slow digestion. Economic considerations may have contributed too, since seafood and cheese are both excellent sources of protein, and poorer households may have considered it wasteful to use both. Geography could also have played a role, as seafood dishes developed primarily in coastal regions, while cheesemaking was more common in mountainous areas. However, the combination has appeared in many cultures for centuries. In the 15th century, Maestro Martino da Como, one of the most influential chefs of Renaissance Italy, included a recipe for shrimp stuffed with cheese in his Libro de Arte Coquinaria.

There are plenty of traditional dishes that many home cooks know well: Caesar Salad, Lobster Macaroni and Cheese, the Tuna Melt, and Shrimp with Cheesy Grits. Some interesting twists on classics include Fish & Chip Pie, Lobster Thermidor Baked Potatoes, Seafood Lasagne, and Spinach and Salmon Shepherd’s Pie. Ignore this silly rule and enjoy exploring the world of seafood and cheese!