Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
If you would like to write a summary for this topic, email phil [at] gyford [dot] com
Annotations
-
Was lobster an expensive delicacy or was it regarded as a “poor man’s meal?”
-
I have read that one reason the Pilgrims in Massachusetts were so short of food during their first year in America is that they did not consider lobsters edible.
-
Lobsters vs Pilgrims
Not very credible, if you check this site:
“The English colonists ate a variety of shellfish, including lobster, but they preferred their traditional, grain-based fare. Shellfish might have been an especially important staple of the colonist’s diet before the English grain-based foods were plentiful.”
http://www.es.umb.edu/faculty/edg/files/bhms/bh2ms.htm
The main problem seems to have been not so much one of taste but preservation in a time when there were no cooling facilities…At some point even:
“Lobster was a poor man’s food.”
http://www.fostertravel.com/CNBRUN.html