Two Great Tastes That...Don't Go Together

Saucyman - I do not fully comprehend the "no cheese" tradition on seafood pasta dishes. This prohibition does not seem to be dairy based. Many Italian seafood preparations use abundant butter or cream. What's going on? Formaggi e pesce

I too have heard this ban repeated many times in my life but have never had the why adequately explained to me. This week, The Sunday Times addressed this dietary taboo here.

The article’s two main points – custom and the more understandable belief that strong cheeses can overwhelm the subtle flavor of fish are the very two reasons I would proffer as well. The former would be cited with both a certain contempt and an understanding never to underestimate the power of a centuries old ritual, practice or even habit. The latter would be more of a guideline not an ironclad rule, like a corporate policy as opposed to a constitutional law.



Quick, To The Bookshelf

Rather than just accept the anti cheese/fish enjoinment, I decided to see if I could find specific reasons why the two are so Romeo and Juliet; forbidden love on a plate. After browsing 10 Cookbooks (both regional and Americanized recipes), 2 comprehensive guides to Italian food & wine, 1 Catholic Encyclopedia and 2 guidebooks designed to make traveling in Italy easier, I got nothin’.

I was able to form some alternate theories on why the cheese-fish ban exists: The most practical explanation is the two items have been historically separated. The hard cheeses typically grated on top of pasta dishes are from the mountains – rugged terrain geographically isolated from the sea. Although Parmesan is hearty enough to travel, odds are the catch of the day was not taking the inland trip until recently.

Abstinence Education

The rules for Lent and sanctioned fasting have changed over the last 2000 years. Not being, in descending order: A Catholic scholar, a practicing Catholic or a fan of Dan Brown, I have few resources to check beyond a single volume heavy on the hagiography and popery but lite on dietary edicts, still it is possible that cheese and fish are kept apart because of some Levitician type of influence beyond my ken. Logically it seems that type of biblical prohibition would have had a greater impact on prosciutto than how fish is consumed.

Not to be overlooked, there just aren’t too many recipes for cheese and fish. Casual browsing only turned up one recipe for seafood with cheese – Pellegrino Artusi’s century old Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well, contained a recipe for scallops with grated parm melted on top. Anna Del Conte failed to cite a specific dish. Ms. Hazan had nothing to say on the subject in her classic Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking -I didn’t see cheese listed as an ingredient in any of the recipes while casually browsing the fish chapter. Waverly Root’s The Food of Italy did not express any preparations nor did I find (or remember any) in books by the sage Angelo Pellegrini – which doesn’t mean it isn’t located somewhere in the 1000s of pages of text.

Italians aren't the only people who avoid the two foods together - Here, beyond canned tuna (casserole or tuna melt) there aren't too many dishes that call for cheese and fish together. The Cuisine of the British Isles avoids combining the two foods and no one would blink if there were 3 ounces of cheddar melted on top of an order of fish and chips. It is possible the Italians who are to food as architects are to things, are only more adamant in expressing about what is tasteful and what is perceived to be crass at the table.