Surf and turf facts for kids
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| Main ingredients | Seafood and red meat |
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Surf and turf is a special meal that combines two main ingredients: seafood and red meat. Imagine having a juicy steak right next to some tasty lobster or shrimp! It's a popular dish in many restaurants, especially steakhouses.
The seafood part often includes lobster (like a lobster tail), shrimp, or scallops. These can be cooked in different ways, such as steaming, grilling, or frying. For the meat part, it's usually a beef steak. A classic combination is a lobster tail served with a filet mignon steak.
You can often find surf and turf on menus in steakhouses. It's popular in countries like the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. In Australia, people sometimes call it Reef and beef or Reef 'n' Beef.
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Where Did Surf and Turf Begin?
It's not totally clear where the name "surf and turf" came from. The first time anyone saw this term in print was in 1961. It appeared in a newspaper called the Los Angeles Times.
A Brief History of Surf and Turf
Combining seafood and steak became popular in America in the late 1800s. Fancy restaurants, sometimes called "lobster palaces," served huge portions of these dishes. Wealthy new families enjoyed these meals.
However, by the 1920s, this trend faded away. Surf and turf didn't become popular again until the early 1960s.
In 1962, surf and turf was a special dish at a restaurant called the Eye of the Needle. This restaurant was located at the top of the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington.
Many people see surf and turf as a symbol of the "Continental cuisine" from the 1960s and 1970s. It was a way for middle-class families to enjoy what felt like a fancy meal, often with frozen lobster and steak.
Different Ways to Enjoy Surf and Turf
One fun way to have surf and turf is as a burger. This burger is made with ground beef and different kinds of seafood. You might find it with lobster, shrimp, or even crab mixed in.
Why Surf and Turf is Special
Surf and turf is often seen as a very fancy or over-the-top meal. It combines two expensive foods that don't always seem to go together. Some people think it's a way for restaurants to make a dish sound extra special and charge a high price. It's like putting two expensive things together to make them seem even more valuable.
As one person said in 2015, "This meal is stunt food. It exists because it's a way for restaurants to package the two most expensive items on the menu—tenderloin and lobster—into one ostentatious price tag. Otherwise, these two items don't even go together."
See also
In Spanish: Surf and turf para niños
