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

It may depend where you live in the UK we live on the coast, there are lots of seafood restaurants and fresh fish about so we eat loads do you live inland?

@jackstini

Price?

I love it personally and eat it a few times a week but some types are expensive

I agree with this.

This thread makes me want mackerel.

Fresh fish makes the house stink for days, especially yellow fish. I like the taste but not worth the stench.

DH is Canadian and growing up spent his holidays in the Canadian Maritimes. Gave him a love of fish and he regularly makes some gorgeous fish meals. Tonight is fish tacos!

I eat fish and seafood, all of it, as do my DD's. From very young they were already eating clams and mussels from the shells. BUT, I am half Italian, and spent all my summers there, and my girls spent every summer holiday there too.

It is very sad, that the UK exports most of it's seafood and fish to other countries. If we ate what we caught, we would self sufficient. All our brown crabs go to China for example. Great for the fishermen, less so for us, as they also pay high prices for them.

The Medieval Catholic church ruled no meat from warm blooded animals on a Friday which is where Fish on a Friday came from.

It could have been eggs on a Friday or vegetarian stuff on a Friday as long as it wasn't meat from a warm blooded animal.

We do eat fish or seafood at least twice a week but it isn't cheap & even though I can literally see the sea out of the corner of my eye as I type, it's not that easy to get decent fresh fish.

Watch ‘seaspiracy’ on Netflix! You’ll not want to eat it again.

@Favouritefruits

It may depend where you live in the UK we live on the coast, there are lots of seafood restaurants and fresh fish about so we eat loads do you live inland?

There’s plenty of seafood available where I am. But, that’s not really the point. I’ll just copy/paste, if that’s okay? Sorry if it seems rude, but it’s just easier.

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.

Purely price— I could easily be pescatarian if I could afford it— suprisingly it’s pretty expensive here in Denmark too — although quality is very good- particularly salmon and prawns.

@Dontsayyouloveme

Watch ‘seaspiracy’ on Netflix! You’ll not want to eat it again.

I’m not advocating for eating seafood (or not). I’m wondering why we haven’t, historically. Which I don’t think Seaspiracy addresses?

@artisanbread

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.

Why do you think this has come about? How have we got to a place where the fish in supermarkets is boring and limited and we’re exporting all our good stuff because Brits won’t eat it?

I love fish (hate seafood) but it’s too expensive for me to eat regularly unfortunately.

Did people literally just read the thread title, then skip the entire post?!

Why do you think this has come about? How have we got to a place where the fish in supermarkets is boring and limited and we’re exporting all our good stuff because Brits won’t eat it?

Not that they won’t eat eat. The stuff we import actually costs less. Other nations are willing to pay a higher price than we are for our own, so we export it. Fuck the environment and eating local and all that. I think about 80% of what we eat is from abroad. Crazy.

@duvetdayforeveryone

Oh my gosh! I've never heard any of that before - I will absolutely cut down my fish consumption. How awful!

That ‘we’ doesn’t include me.

I wonder if there is a link with poverty in someway as in some of the items are associated with being poor. My grandparents on one side were very working class and they ate cockles and winkles and jellied eels (are they river or sea) and thats really gone out of fashion. They also had kippers for breakfast, or tinned sardines or mackerels. Fish n chips used to be a bigger range - huss and skatewings.

Other nations are willing to pay a higher price than we are for our own, so we export it

Yes, that's true. BUT, there wasn't a market for it here, because we don't eat the varieties that are caught here, so it was exported, and we import the stuff we do eat, which isn't caught here..... it's a catch 22.

Back to OP - Google suggests we don't eat much now because of the "papist" connection. However, very ancient coastal communities didn't eat it either. Perhaps they were just too stupid to realise it was edible!!

@DoggoShark

Why do you think this has come about? How have we got to a place where the fish in supermarkets is boring and limited and we’re exporting all our good stuff because Brits won’t eat it?

Not that they won’t eat eat. The stuff we import actually costs less. Other nations are willing to pay a higher price than we are for our own, so we export it. Fuck the environment and eating local and all that. I think about 80% of what we eat is from abroad. Crazy.

Yes, but that doesn’t really have anything to do with what I’m asking. Which is how it’s come about. Why are other nations willing to pay more than we are?

I’m not making arguments for or against. I’m wondering why, in the socio-cultural narrative sense. How has this all come about?

Yes, that's true. BUT, there wasn't a market for it here, because we don't eat the varieties that are caught here, so it was exported, and we import the stuff we do eat, which isn't caught here..... it's a catch 22.

I think one of the fish we export most is salmon, it’s also one of the fish we import most of. Because it’s cheaper. And that’s crazy. The planet is fucked!

@BigWoollyJumpers At this point, I’m just delighted someone actually gets what I’m asking/saying. It would appear I’ve been unclear, in some way.

The answer is gentrification... people in coastal towns used to live on fish and things like oysters were dirt cheap and considered a food for the poor. They were rebranded as upper-class and now our seafood is mostly exported or sold to high-end restaurants. The same thing happened with lobster in the US - it used to be served in prisons as it was so cheap.

Yes there was a phrase 'where there is poverty there is oysters' perhaps meats were more aspirational