National Seafood Month

October is National Seafood Month in the United States.

As seafood is, literally, any form of sea life that is eaten as food, there are many different types and varieties of it. The two largest categories of seafood are fish and shellfish, and the definition is sometimes expanded to include any freshwater life that is eaten as food.

Seafood, assuming it isn't contaminated - a growing problem - is a healthy type of food. One portion of seafood eaten every week could lower the chances of heart disease and cut the chance of suffering a heart attack in half. Fish can also help with the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Seafood is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Research is still ongoing into these, but they could help health in general. One way of avoiding contaminated seafood is by eating types that are low on the food chain; the higher up the food chain, the greater the contamination.

Seafood can be prepared in many different ways. It can even be eaten raw, in dishes such as sashimi.

National Clams on the Half Shell Day

March 31st is National Clams on the Half Shell Day in the United States.

Clams are a type of bivalve molluscs. There are many different varieties of calms, from practically microscopic to the 200 kilogram or more giant clam, and they can be found in both marine and in freshwater habitats. Not all clams are edible, or eaten as food.

In North America, the term "clam" is usually used to refer to one type known as the hard clam which is native to the eastern shores of the continent, although it can also be used for some other edible varieties.

These clams are popularly served "on the half shell" in restaurants and clam boards in coastal areas of New York, New Jersey and New England. The clams are opened up with the top shell removed and served raw. They are accompanied with cocktail sauce with horseradish and frequently lemon.

National Baked Scallops Day

March 12th is National Baked Scallops Day in the United States.

Scallops are a type (or, depending on the usage, a related type) of bivalve marine mollusc. Scallops have a distinctively shaped shell, which has been collected for many years, as well as being a used as a symbol for many things, and the name itself is also used to refer to a wavy pattern similar to that of the edge of the shell.

Scallops are a popular food dish, with both wild and cultured scallops being eaten, the latter especially as the populations of wild scallops has declined. The scallop comprises of a large, white, meaty part, called the scallop, and a small, softer red or white part, known as the roe. In the US, frequently only the scallop is sold; in the UK and Australia, in particular, the shellfish can be bought consisting of both the roe (which is edible) and the main part of the scallop.

When baking scallops, the shellfish is frequently covered in crumbs of some type.

Lobster Thermidor Day

January 24th is Lobster Thermidor Day in the United States.

The famous, and amongst chefs and gourmets, legendary, French chef, culinary writer and restaurateur Auguste Escoffier, who updated and made popular traditional French cooking methods and elevated cooking to a respected profession, created Lobster Thermidor around 1880 at a restaurant called Maison Maire in Paris, which was near the Comédie Française, a theatre. The dish was apparently named to honour Victorien Sardou's play Thermidor, which opened at the theatre in January 1891. The play, which takes its name from the month in the French Republican Calendar, celebrates the Thermidorian Reaction which resulted in the overthrow and execution of Robespierre and the end of the Reign of Terror.

This is, as the name suggests, a lobster dish, in which cooked lobster meat, together with brandy (often cognac), and egg yolks are stuffed inside a lobster shell, and which may be served with a crust made from oven-browned cheese, commonly Gruyère. Mustard must be used in the sauce. The dish is quite expensive and time consuming to make and, given that lobster by itself tends to be quite an expensive item of seafood, is generally only served on special occasions. This was by no means the only dish still cooked today that was created by Escoffier; two of the most famous are still Peach Melba and Melba Toast, both named after Dame Nellie Melba, the Australian singer.

A more modern, and very similar, dish in its ingredients, cooking and serving, is the American Lobster Newberg.

National Fried Shrimp Day

National Fried Shrimp Day is on December 21st in the United States.

This is another national day that is supposedly rather specific - a certain type of seafood prepared in a certain way - but is actually rather vaguer, depending on the region, than you might think.

Shrimps are a type of crustacean that is also, depending on the region, referred to as prawns. In North America they would normally be called shrimps; in the United Kingdom, prawns. The two species are actually different, but are so close in appearance that they are often called by both names. In reference material, though, prawn is being used to describe the freshwater variety and shrimp the marine ones.

Shrimps (or prawns) vary in size, from small to large, with the large types being known as king prawns, or jumbo shrimps. They are used in a lot of dishes and, as far as mercury content is concerned, are one of the safest types of seafood, as they are so low on the food chain they contain one of the smallest amounts.

There are many different ways to fry shrimp. They can be shallow or deep fried, with or without batter. Quite often, when battered, the shell isn't removed first - which seems a bit pointless, as the shell, and thus the batter, is then removed to eat them.

National Seafood Bisque Day

October 19th is National Seafood Bisque Day in the US.

Bisques are a type of soup that originates in France. It's not known precisely how the name came about; it could be named after the Bay of Biscay, or alternatively it could come from bis cuites which means twice cooked.

The dish is traditionally a seafood one, although it can also be used to refer to some similar soups made using fruit or fungi. Crustaceans, such as crayfish, crab, lobster and shrimp are used to make it.

Seafood bisque is a creamy soup made from the crustaceans that is highly seasoned. The original bisques had the shells of the crustaceans ground into a paste which was then added to the soup. Rice can also be used as a thickening agent, which is then strained off before serving. The soup is usually strained anyway, so that the texture is smooth.