Did you know...

*One of the oldest examples of Tilapia Farming is a bas-relief found in a 4000 year old Egyptian tomb depicting tilapias held in ponds. The Nile tilapia was of such great importance to the Egyptians that it was given its own hieroglyph.

*Shrimp Cocktail Origins: Although people have been combining fish with spicy sauces Since ancient times, the "Shrimp Cocktail" as we know it today belongs to the late 19th-early 20th century. "Cocktail" appetizers were extremely popular during the 1920s the decade of Prohibition. In the 1920s, restaurants started to serve the shrimp in "cocktail glasses" originally meant to hold alcoholic beverages. It was a very creative way to use the stemware. Mifflin Company: Boston 1936

*New York Times, Sept. 27, 1949.....Fish-Filled "Hot Dog" to be put on the market. The American Hot Dog is going to sea. A Gloucester firm said today that a fish-filled version of the hot dog will soon be on the market. Tuna Fish will be the basic ingredient. The company lists these proposed names: Sea Dogs, Fish Dogs and Friday Franks.

*According to the cookbook "Good Cooking, New edition, 1937", the very first pigs in blankets were oysters. To prepare, wrap a thin slice of bacon around each oyster and fasten with a toothpick. Bake in a 450 oven.

*Oysters Rockefeller was created in 1899 by Chef Jules Alciatore of Antoines Restaurant in New York. At that time there was a shortage of snails coming from Europe to the United States and Jules was looking for a replacement. He wanted this replacement to be local in order to avoid any difficulty in procuring the product. He chose oysters. He created a sauce with available green vegetable products, producing such a wonderful richness that he named it after one of the wealthiest men in the United States, John D. Rockefeller.

*Long ago, lobsters were so plentiful that Native Americans used them to fertilize their fields and to bait their hooks for fishing. In colonial times, lobsters were considered "poverty food." They were harvested from tidal pools and served to children, to prisoners, and to indentured servants. In Massachusetts, some of the servants finally rebelled. They had it put into their contracts that they would not be forced to eat lobster more than three times a week.