The Rise of an Delicacy
picture from dconheels.com
If you visit any fancy restaurant these days, you'll have a hard time not finding lobster on the menu. The shellfish became an symbol for luxury and wealth in the late 1800s.
What is considered now as rare delicacy from the bottom of the sea used to get called ‘cockroach of the ocean’. In the early 1800s lobsters were sold as ‘poor man’s and prisoners food’.
How did lobster get become famous?
“Railway managers discovered if they billed it as a delicacy, passengers who didn’t know of its disgusting reputation thought it was delicious. As the years went by, lobster started showing up in salad bars, and by the 1920s, it had become the food of choice for the world’s aristocrats. The lobster’s popularity took a dive during the Great Depression, once again becoming a food for the poor, but by the 1950s, it was back in vogue and had become the luxury food we eat today.”
Source:
http://knowledgenuts.com/2013/11/05/lobster-was-once-a-poor-mans-food/