Seafood (1835)

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 2/4/03 10:06:03 AM, laurence.horn at YALE.EDU writes:


> But in some contexts crustaceans do count as
> fish--I think "soupe a poisson" can contain just fish or seafood too.
>

Historically this is certainly the case. Beast, fish, and fowl were the three
divisions of animals before the 19th century, as any early 19th century
dictionary will tell you. So it makes sense that traditional recipes would
employ such usages.

I researched this a number of years ago in connection with an Indian treaty
in Seattle. The early treaties gave the Indians fishuing rights. The late
20th century Indians justly claimed that this included the digging of clams.

Legal dictionaries note that shellfish are fish for legal purposes.