Why don’t we eat more fish and seafood?

[KhansMambo]

A friend and I were chatting about fish and seafood (it’s Easter, after all), and wondering why the U.K. doesn’t have more of a fish/seafood culture or seafood based cuisine. Apart from the occasional bit of battered and deep fried fish, it doesn’t feature largely in a lot of people’s usual diets. And we consume markedly less than other countries with similar access.

As we’ve had so much access to it, historically, it’s interesting that it’s not the core of our traditional diet. Why don’t we have hundreds of razor clam recipes? Why didn’t everyone grow up eating an array of fish stews? Or using different kinds of seafood and seaweed as seasoning? I’m sure there’s all sorts of interesting anthropological reasons. I was wondering what everyone thought they were.

A quick Google dig up these, which I thought were really interesting.

• www.spectator.co.uk/article/britains-strange-aversion-to-seafood/amp

• www.newstatesman.com/culture/food-drink/2021/09/britain-is-surrounded-by-fish-so-why-do-we-eat-so-little-of-it

I heard a lecture once where the academic said we (England) and Japan were the only two nations who have never had a true famine and as a result we are far fussier with our food than any other countries, because we feel we have choice. Obviously peasants and serfs were hungry due to lack of funds but it wasn't an actual lack of food. I can't remember the rest of the lecture unfortunately but I remember that titbit being very interesting. Places such as cornwall and Norfolk are still quite fish orientated, from experience. But I'd agree it's strange not to have the common fish heritage you find in most other countries.
I eat pretty much any fish and love love love shellfish.

I would eat more seafood but it is for too expensive for an island nation

If you ask people, I would imagine most would struggle to name more than 5 fish dishes, never mind making them. Where this comes from, I am not sure. I would love Britain to have more of a fish culture as I love it! There are only rarely fish options in restaurants aside from fish and chips and salmon.

The smell of it makes me physically sick, I can't be in the same room as the stuff - let alone eating it. Especially salmon, tuna (the thought of it mixed with mayo is making me want to heave) and haddock .

The relief I felt when Asda and Sainsburys here got rid of the fish count was unparalleled.

@notanothertakeaway

I've often wondered this too

I find fish can be tricky to cook - easy to overcook, falls apart easily

I love eating white fish, as well as sea-food, so am lucky that I live in the Mediterranean close to the sea. But I agree that fish can be tricky to cook, I try to eat as much as possible because it's low-carb but am really bad at getting it right - it's either raw in the middle or disintegrates when I cook it at home.

I was never keen on fish despite being brought up in norfolk so went on a waitrose cookery course about how to prepare and cook fish about 5 years ago - it was brilliant and now i am confident cooking much more fish now. I recommend doing a course.

I really can't stand seafood. Some fish is ok but I can't really be arsed generally

Does a lot of it still get exported? If so, that's sad.

It’s a great question.
I’m not very good at cooking it - so cook it less and get more unconfident.
Also I avoid a lot of fish due to fishing practices.
We eat salmon (wild caught, imported) as I don’t like the fat on farmed stuff, nor do I like supporting some fish farms.
We buy MSC certified cod and haddock, plain and smoked. Often Icelandic as that’s what the supermarket sells.
Tinned tuna, imported from the Maldives (pole and line caught).
So I guess our fish use is particularly non British and therefore non sustainable!
I love bass and bream but the supermarket ones are usually farmed in southern Mediterranean, often with poor environmental standards so I don’t buy them.
Occasionally a friend gives us some he’s caught, fresh, which is amazing.
I lost my taste for shellfish when I was vegetarian for years and never fancied it again, and I don’t know where I’d source fresh rope grown mussels from as I agree with a pp that these are a great thing to eat environmentally. I’d like to like mussels.
We used to buy American signal crayfish from a fishmonger, they’re good to eat as damage our rivers, but we moved from near that fishmonger and I wouldn’t know where to get them from now.

Totally agree OP, it's odd! I absolutely love fish. I grew up in a seaside town but my parents were very conservative eaters, so my love of seafood has developed as I got older. Fish and chips or possibly baked salmon was probably the fish we ate, possibly prawns if we were feeling very decadent!

My husband and I love fish and seafood, eat fish regularly and seafood platters are our treat food for birthdays and special occasions.

Oooh, I wandered off, came back and there’s loads of comments! Will have a read, now. Perhaps someone has figured it out.

It's historical. Eating fish was seen as a Catholic practice when being Catholic was dangerous.

Just like the Spanish eat huge quantities of pork as a hangover from when the inquisition would arrest anyone suspected of being a disguised Muslim or Jew.

@Thatswhyimacat

I suppose because of our climate and terrain meaning we can also produce large amounts of meat, our cuisine has grown up around that instead.

But, we’re an island. You’d have thought that, with the access we have to seafood, our food culture would feature it very heavily (as it does in other countries with similar access). I’m just curious as to why it hasn’t.

@Coyoacan

It's historical. Eating fish was seen as a Catholic practice when being Catholic was dangerous.

Just like the Spanish eat huge quantities of pork as a hangover from when the inquisition would arrest anyone suspected of being a disguised Muslim or Jew.

But, even the catholics don’t seem to have eaten very much of it or developed a particularly comprehensive seafood based cuisine. Just a bit of fish on a Friday.

We had fish last night and are having fish tonight. I could live on fish and seafood quite happily.

Because it smells and tastes horrible.

I am not a fan of seafood at all. I like fish fingers (but only if they don't taste too fishy ), tinned red salmon (skinless and boneless) and tinned tuna is spring water or brine. Anything else makes me feel sick.

@amicissimma

Strange question.

Some people eat lots. Some people none or hardly any. Presumably some people like it more than others.

I don’t think you’ve understood the question.

For me, it's simply because it looks, tastes and worst of all smells unpleasant. Especially shellfish, I just can't go near it. I'd love to be able to as it's such a healthy option, but I just can't. I find it repellent.

I want to like it but I can't. I think it stems from being given Scotch Emulsion as a child 🤮

Scott's not scotch

Fish is delicious!

I think we average about 6 times a month, much more in summer. Mackerel on the BBQ is great, or a tuna steak Niçoise.

I use those frozen bags of whitefish portions quite a lot for fish tacos, Thai spiced fish cakes, fish pie and fish curry.

Baked parcels of fish are a doddle. And you can’t beat a nice shallot, wine and caper sauce on a sea bass. But that’s a lot more expensive than the frozen basa or coley portions.

Quite a few people seem to think I’m asking them whether they like fish/seafood. 😂

That’s not what I’m asking. I’m wondering why, as an island nation, seafood and fish have not historically been a major component in the national cuisine. Whether or not you or I personally enjoy seafood, the fact is that the U.K. consumes considerably less of it than most island nations/countries with similar access and has fewer dishes that feature it.

I’m wondering how and why this has come about and what the historical/anthropological forces might have been. I think that sort of thing is interesting!

I’m not sure it’s a matter of cost as, historically, lots of seafood was dirt cheap. Certainly cheaper than beef. Yet, beef was a core (if rare and expensive) ingredient, and seafood wasn’t/isn’t.

@Keladrythesaviour

I heard a lecture once where the academic said we (England) and Japan were the only two nations who have never had a true famine and as a result we are far fussier with our food than any other countries, because we feel we have choice. Obviously peasants and serfs were hungry due to lack of funds but it wasn't an actual lack of food. I can't remember the rest of the lecture unfortunately but I remember that titbit being very interesting. Places such as cornwall and Norfolk are still quite fish orientated, from experience. But I'd agree it's strange not to have the common fish heritage you find in most other countries. I eat pretty much any fish and love love love shellfish.

That is interesting!

However, the friend with whom I’m discussing this is Irish and has pointed out that Ireland had famine. But, even with that, still no strong fish/seafood culture emerged.

I think there are lots of reasons but habit and difficulty of access must be some of them. The fish sold in supermarkets where most people do their shopping is boring and limited. Honestly in my local supermarket you can get cod, haddock, salmon, prawns. I shop with Ocado and the range is a bit better but not much. Unless you live in a city, access to a good fishmonger is limited. We have a mobile fishmonger in my town that comes once a week between 10 and 4 but I work full-time and therefore can almost never get there.

A lot of people never get to sample more exciting fish unless they travel abroad. We always buy shell-on prawns relatively cheaply (compared to the UK) from the fish market in France. My elder DC eats them happily (although younger DC won't eat any fish other than fishfinger or fishcake). I was watching a Rick Stein programme the other day and he said that most of the langoustines (or Dublin Bay Prawns) that are caught in the UK are exported to Europe because British people don't eat them. Trouble is, with the limited offerings available in our shops, most British people will ne er get a chance to eat them.