Ask anyone in this country to list foods that they consider to be fancy or expensive and lobster is likely to make the list. This crustacean was not always so highly prized. It was once considered to be a poor man’s dish. So how did the lobster transition from prison food to the pinnacle of fine dining?
When European settlers first arrived in New England, they found that the Indigenous peoples used lobster as a food source for themselves, bait for fishhooks, and fertilizer for their crops. Lobster was so plentiful that they were reported to wash up on to shore by the hundreds after storms, sometimes in piles two feet deep. They were an easy and abundant source of protein for those who lived near the shore. Lobster was supposedly so plentiful in those days that indentured servants would write into their contracts a three day per week limit on lobster servings. These tales are likely apocryphal, but it does seem true that lobster was frequently eaten by all classes of people.
Lobster’s reputation began to improve in the 1800s with advancements in the canning industry. Once a lobster dies, its stomach enzymes seep out and start to rot the meat, meaning lobster must be caught and sold alive to ensure the meat is still fresh and edible. Cooked lobster, on the other hand, proved rather easy to can. Canned lobster could be shipped across the country, widening the market beyond the coast and increasing demand.
Railroads also led to lobster’s rise in popularity. Railroads made it easier for people to travel. People visiting the east coast who had only had canned lobster tried fresh lobster for the first time and fell in love with the taste. The railroads were also able to bring fresh lobsters much further inland, though the cost of shipping made them more of a luxury item than regular fare.
Increased demand eventually led to a depletion in numbers. The first legal limitation on lobster fishing was set in 1874. The increase in demand coupled with growing scarcity led to lobsters’ current reputation as a luxury food. Lobster is not the only food to make the journey from peasant food to fine dining. Other once humble foods include quinoa, caviar and salmon. The foods themselves have not changed, but wider markets, scarcity and changed perceptions have turned them into culinary stars.
Crystal Kelly is a feature writer for Bizarre Bytes with those unusual facts that you only need to know for Trivial Pursuit or Jeopardy or to stump your in-laws.
