Apparently there is a well known and generally observed, if not-quite-Universal taboo against using cheese in recipes that are fish and/or shellfish based.
I have actually heard it spoken of by professional chefs (on various PBS cooking shows) once or twice, but I don’t recall the rationale behind it.
Anyone know the Straight Dope?
ETA—for the record, YES, I do understand that there are more than a few seafood dishes out there that do indeed have cheese as an ingredient, but on the whole, it’s undeniably pretty rare, no matter the specific type of food we are talking about (French, Mexican, Cajun, etc.) even if seafood and cheese individually are a big part of the cornucopia of foods typically eaten therein; I suppose that Italian Cuisine would be a fine example.
I wouldn’t call it a taboo so much as in my opinion and palate (and a great many others in my experience), seafood and cheese are just not tasty together.
Where you do find them together, as in crab rangoon, cheesy mussels, or pasta with tuna, the fish is invariably of such a low quality that the heavy, greasy, predominant cheese is more to mask than accentuate the seafood.
Now seafood and cream or milk can be good but there’s something about the cheese that just doesn’t go with my expectations of good fresh seafood.
This thread is the first I’ve ever heard of it, and I’ve had cheese & seafood dishes on plenty of times here in Australia; you can even buy them from the supermarket.
So I’d suggest it’s far from a universal “taboo”, but I will agree it’s not as common as you’d think, which is an interesting discussion point.
In Italian cooking seafood pasta dishes are typically not served with grated cheese. Other than that, I am not aware of such a taboo. Some time-honored recipes, such as Coquilles St. Jacques, use both seafood and cheese.
Mirroring Jeff’s appraisal, I think the perceived ban is specifically parmesano and romano cheeses in Italian cuisine being banned from use with seafood as too clashing and overpowering with elemental seafood dishes and offending the palate of purists. And as far as that goes, there are probably even exceptions, like this clams casino recipe with parmesan from Giada Delaurentis.
I guess the archetype is Frutti di Mare Pasta… If I were eating that at an italian Restaurant with the most impeccable and fresh seafood from the mediterranean or adriatic it would probably be a faux pas and insult to the chef if I asked for parmesan to go on it… kinda like steak and ketchup, for a parallel.
I, for one, weary of food covered in bacon bitz n’ cheeze. Everywhere you go, at least mid-priced restaurants, there are burgers burgers burgers, baked potatoes, hot dogs, quesadillas, sandwiches, grilled chicken patties - everything seems to come smothered in cheddar sauce. If I’m going to pick a beautiful fresh seafood entree, it certainly better not be drenched in that goo.
As a chef by trade, I can confirm that this is indeed a taboo for most of my colleagues, to the point of many of them using it as a sort of barometer of how much they should look down their noses at customers. The chefs who trained me had similar attitudes. I’ve also been acquainted with cheese-mongers who, when asked for a recommendation of cheeses to pair with seafood will just recommend something expensive as obviously someone wishing to pair cheese with seafood is obviously a cretin who wouldn’t know the difference anyhow.
God, I hate the culinary industry sometimes.*
I myself subscribed to this position when I was younger, but frankly I’ve grown quite fond of the British and Irish treatments of seafood which often pair them with cheese to pleasant effect and it’s made me rethink many of the accepted commandments of food.
Seriously, though, it’s just fcking food. In a world packed with so many poor and starving, the attitudes of chefs and ‘foodies’ call to my mind images of comically hedonistic Roman emperors at times.
Don’t drown one out with the other. I find lobster thermidor to be an abomination of flavors, that takes weeks to digest. That’s also why I don’t have cheese on a hamburger.
I know it’s done on occasion–while eating at a restaurant called Galileo’s, I once suggested that the shrimp omelet with cheese should be called “Eppur Sea Moo-Ova.”
Meaty fish like cod or monkfish, are quite nice with some cheeses- roasted in the oven with a cheddar and herb crust, for example.
Fresh tuna, a very delicate white fish or a strong oily fish like mackerel- not such a great match for fermented dairy products. Either because the delicate flavour of the fish will be overwhelmed by the cheese, or because the cheese and fish will compete.
My grandmother used to make smoked whiting baked in milk and topped with cheddar cheese that was to die for when served with mashed potatoes.
