# The Widespread Culinary Taboo Against Using Cheese In Seafood Dishes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790 "2011-07-30T00:11:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790/21 "2011-07-31T14:38:58Z")
I just saw a commercial for Red Lobster (it was food pornography, it was so mesmerizing). The grill chef was displaying gorgeous slabs of grilled fresh fish, and not a one of them was besmirched by cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790/22 "2011-08-01T09:33:57Z")
I’m guessing Seafood Mornay isn’t big in the US? ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790/23 "2011-08-01T12:22:27Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > 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 I agree, both with this being the source of the idea, and with this being mostly true. Parmesan on a scampi or similar light shellfish dish will indeed stomp all over the seafood flavor. I mean, go ahead and do it on your own plate if you want, but don’t ruin\* my\* scallops that I can’t afford to eat all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790/24 "2011-08-01T13:15:17Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > The best Mac’n’cheese that I have ever tasted came with chunks of lobster in it - Purple Cafe in Seattle if you want to try it. And the plate I had of it here at a trendy pub wasn’t that great - they overcooked the lobster, so it was chewier than it needed to be. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790/25 "2011-08-01T14:18:45Z")
People may be forgetting the humble tuna melt. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790/26 "2011-08-02T03:08:47Z")
I never thought of that. But at one grocery store I’d occasionally buy sole filet stuffed with shrimp and Monterey Jack cheese. Pretty good, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790/27 "2011-08-02T10:48:28Z")
I just encountered a salmon cake recipe that uses paneer (Indian cheese), in Bal Arneson’s **Everyday Indian** cookbook. I’m going to try it on my husband soon (I’m a veg so I won’t be trying it) and will see what he thinks. Since paneer cheese is very firm and not melty, I think it might be better suited to this kind of mix than many other cheeses. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790/28 "2011-08-02T12:04:21Z")
On my second friday in Germany some many many years ago as a teenager, my exchange Mother informed me that we were having fish for dinner and if that was ok? I pouted a bit and said that fish wasn’t exactly my favorite… well it turned out to be frozen prepared fish (Dr. Oetker’s, maybe?) it was very mild whitefish filet concoction with a cheese and herb sauce which if I had to guess was probably sole in a similar mode to what **rowwrbazzle** and **irishgirl** have intimated. Turned out I really liked that fish and even preferred it compared to my limited experience with perch and walleye fish frys and fishsticks. So there you go, one of my first aha moments, with a young palate averse to the flavor of fish was eating fish and cheese/dairy in Germany. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790/29 "2011-08-02T12:32:53Z")
I’d really like to know what that frozen, prepared, line of German fish from the 80’s was? I don’t think it was Doc Oetkers’s- It was extremely good and high quality for a frozen fish product, the particular kind I had was probably best described as a “Sole Mornay with herbs” or something along those lines… it seemed to be stuffed with cheese, IIRC. They seemed to be a big hit with the family and my EXchange Mother showed me the boxes they came in, maybe the German Dopers know what I am talking about? Sure beat the hell out of Gorton’s. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790/30 "2011-08-03T15:21:14Z")
For an up to date version- I did find [this](http://www.youngsseafood.co.uk/web/product_info.asp?trg=qs&id=43). ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790/31 "2011-08-03T17:59:53Z")
I’ve seen quite often at various restaurants many versions of parmesan crusted tilapia and walleye. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790/32 "2011-08-05T14:58:12Z")
> [@santosvega](#): > > God, I hate the culinary industry sometimes.\* > _Seriously, though, it’s just f_cking 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. I like you, can I bear your children? > [@jjimm](#): > > I find lobster thermidor to be an abomination of flavors, that takes weeks to digest. I agree that lobster doesn’t go well with cheese (for my taste), but the undigestibility of that dish can be blamed completely on the lobster. Lobster is one of those foods that make me feel like a snake that has just swallowed a small elephant\*. I have always heard of this taboo too, but I can’t get too worked up, people often eat things I disapprove of and there’s nothing I can do about it. And yes, delicate fish should not compete with cheese, or any other thing (easy on the seasoning, people!) and tasty/greasy fish will clash with cheese. IMHO, that is. \*BTW, if ever there was a proof that humans would eat anything, lobster is it. I mean, it is darn tasty, but I can imagine one of our ancestors coming from a swim and telling his wife “hon, I saw this giant alien, armored insect. I am sure it will taste great!”. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790/33 "2011-08-05T15:08:16Z")
There are bagels with lox and cream cheese. And I’ve made salmon pizza. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790/34 "2011-08-05T15:49:56Z")
Crab rangoon? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790/35 "2011-08-05T17:17:40Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > \*BTW, if ever there was a proof that humans would eat anything, lobster is it. I mean, it is darn tasty, but I can imagine one of our ancestors coming from a swim and telling his wife “hon, I saw this giant alien, armored insect. I am sure it will taste great!”. Raw oysters. Here, lets swallow this mobile snot … it slithers on the way down. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-widespread-culinary-taboo-against-using-cheese-in-seafood-dishes/590790.md?page=1)