More than 3 billion people in the world today rely on seafood as their primary protein. It turns out that even Neanderthals loved what the sea had to offer. Huge caches of shells and bones were found in caves in Portugal dating back to 86,000 to 106,000 years ago. China has been practicing aquaculture for 3,500 years. We’ll never know how the Neanderthals prepared their seafood, most likely plainly roasted or boiled over fire. The earliest known use of spice was found in 6,000 year old pottery shards in Northern Europe which contained traces of crushed mustard seeds. Besides enhancing taste, many spices such as clove, oregano, cinnamon and cumin to name a few, protect food with antimicrobial properties. Spicy food was safer to eat. Early explorers brought spices from India and beyond and enabled new cuisines worldwide to emerge. Some cultures prepared their fish and shellfish very simply while others made more elaborate and complicated combinations of flavor. We thought it would be fun to share a few recipes with you demonstrating precisely that.
Five Spice and Crushed Red Pepper Calamari
Kibbeling with Garlic Sauce, (Dutch Fried Cod)
Moqueca Capixaba (Brazilian Fish Stew)
Satay Udang (Indonesian Shrimp Satay)