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What is so evil about seafood and cheese?

post #1 of 17
2/4/10 at 1:58am
Thread Starter 
I happen to really enjoy the "Chopped" show on food network. It appeals to my creative side and certainly as I brainstorm along with the chefs as they open their baskets I enjoy that process, sometimes I know exactly what I would do, and sometimes I just would hardly be able to move.

One thing I wondered tonight, was why Scott Conant is such a db when it comes to two things... 1. raw red onions 2. cheese and seafood

I happen to like raw red onion. Maybe because he is a chef, he believes he has an ordained pallet, but I call BS. I like red onion, but then I actually enjoy onion. Many salads include raw red onion. It's not as if that is some alien ingredient he has never encountered, yet he treats it as if it is like some ghastly pungent diseased ingredient that should never be introduced outside of thin shavings ala truffle. It really strikes me as if he suffers from a childhood related disposition to the ingredient, perhaps he has an eating disorder?

The second one, I am a little more serious about. I do seek answer from some more experienced chefs, why is he SO against ANY cheese and fish combination? Is it really a death nail for italian cuisine? I ask that because there have been a few dishes made with fish or oysters that call for parmesan cheese that are considered favorites by fisherman that I frequently converse with.

Tonight for just a snack, I toasted some thin sliced rye bread I had baked, and topped it with diced tomatoes and canned oysters, which I then sprinkled with parmesan cheese. It sounds a bit strange, but the flavor combination is not bad at all. I saw tomatoes and oysters first combined on the iron chef program, but I couldn't help but think how badly the sprinkling or parmesan on "fish" would piss Scott off. Maybe I should have diced up some raw red onion and marinated it in some red wine vinegar and olive oil? :peace:
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post #2 of 17
2/4/10 at 6:46am
While this was just hashed out, it boils down to tradition.

If I were to theorize how it started, coasts are for fishing and generally aren't pasture areas. And vice versa. So very local cuisines grew out of what they were eating.

Traditions formed. And stuck. Even though there are exceptions.
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post #3 of 17
2/4/10 at 9:28am
link to other thread
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post #4 of 17
2/4/10 at 12:58pm
As per the raw onions, I guess he's just not used to it. I like raw red onions too! As for the cheese and seafood, usually it just doesnt match, but it depends on who's cooking. I, for example, enjoy the mix of the two. But most people doesnt
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post #5 of 17
2/8/10 at 4:08am

Re:What is so evil about seafood and cheese?

the creamy seafood sauce would make a great filling/topping for a seafood burrito.
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post #6 of 17
2/8/10 at 7:18am

already discussed

wasn't this the subject of another thread?
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post #7 of 17
2/9/10 at 2:16pm
Well luckily for the rest of us, the Italians aren't breeding anymore so soon we wont have to deal with their crazy culinary rules... haha just kidding... sort of...
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post #8 of 17
2/9/10 at 3:15pm
Thread Starter 
Sorry I should frequent the forum more often, I kind of blindly posted that, I wouldn't have thought someone else would have posted something on the same thing but they were probably watching the same shows I watched :look:
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post #9 of 17
5/6/12 at 8:50am

Chef Zakarian has mentioned several times publicly and on the TV program "Chopped" that the combination of seafood and cheese is a serious culinary mistake. I have done quite a bit of research and have come up with very little as to why this combination is such a bad combination. Most of what I have come up with seams to be an "Italian thing". I am married to and Italian and have been to Italy several times, beyond that is wasteland of culinary opinions. Could someone please point me in a direction where I might find serious reasoning for Chef Zakarian’s or the basis for Italian traditions?

 

Thank's PJ


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post #10 of 17
5/6/12 at 10:55am

I'm just guessing here, but some instinctive knowledge is embedded in old traditions, e.g., such as different enzymes, etc. being needed for radically different kinds of food. Two different kinds of proteins - but I am just  opining here.   Also, the origins of not eating certain foods together would be as "phatch" posted above, way back in '10. 

 

However, people like the tastes of certain things and so why deny yourself.  When I eat oddball combos, I take broad spectrum digestive enzymes, bile acids, betaine hydrochloric acid, etc.  I'm middle aged and not about to start stressing my digestive system.
 

P.S.  I really enjoyed eastshore's opening post...


Edited by Wyandotte - 5/6/12 at 12:25pm
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post #11 of 17
5/6/12 at 11:24am

Scott Conant, along with almost every other judge on "Chopped" is a "DB" because ... well ... they just are. 

 

 

 

 

Alex Guarnaschelli, Geoffrey Zakarian, Marc Murphy along w/ Scott Conant are the "Team DB" Captains. 

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post #12 of 17
5/6/12 at 11:47am

Filet-O-Fish

Dive right in. Don't hesitate, cuz it's made with light, flaky filet of white fish from the deep, cold waters of the Pacific Ocean and the Bering, Baltic and North Seas. Topped with a slice of American processed goodness and tangy tartar sauce in a lightly steamed bun. Down you go!

 

thumbnail.aspx?q=4913103834710376&id=c605782797c9a7a0c3bd075b4a9c7e27              YUM-O!

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post #13 of 17
5/7/12 at 12:06am

Scott shouldn't even be a judge. It's a cooking competition with an open kitchen and no rules saying you can't use the ingredients they give you. Yet there he is telling people what not to use just because he doesn't like it. 

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post #14 of 17
5/7/12 at 5:02am

I don't have much faith in his opinions. Have never seen him behind the range. Its easy to judge others but what about yourself. Tell me scllops with a mornay sauce is bad or lobster mac and cheese, or crabmeat au gratin? Maybe he ought to look at some old classical cuisine . There is nothing wrong with anything combined as long as the final outcome is good.\ and your patrons  enjoys it.

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post #15 of 17
5/7/12 at 7:45am

To paraphrase an old nugget " Those who can, do. Those who can't, judge."

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post #16 of 17
5/7/12 at 11:05am

I think food creativity is taking a turn for the better these days.  Traditionalists and Purists might not readily agree with me.  HOwever, I believe that in order for us to continue finding amazing new ways of experiencing the art of food, we must push the preset boundaries of tradition and see what might work and what might not work.

 

I have served a dish with langustines, cream, parmesean and fontina over a crispy garlic toast.  It was not only delicious to me, but my guests raved and asked my recipe.  All along, I had just thrown stuff into a pan to see if it would work. 

 

Most of us would not be chefs if we stopped when the instructor brought out oysters or tripe in class.  Yet we perservered and grew and created.  So if some chefs are not happy with the new and different, so be it.  The fact of the matter of it all is, are we happy with what we are cooking and eating?  If so, Bon Appetite.  If not, go back to what you like and Bon Appetite!

 

LOVE.

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post #17 of 17
5/8/12 at 1:42am

Mixing cheese and seafood it not new, in fact it has been enjoyed for centuries and there are many great dishes and recipes. Just because some food critic makes a blanket statement does not mean a thing. Food critics don't do anything, they just judge everything

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