Seafood Skewers: Fire and Ice Culinary Spotlight

People call themselves seafood lovers all the time, us at Fire and Ice included, but seafood is more than just one or two types of fish. There are entire subcategories of seafood, shellfish being a good example. So when people say they’re seafood lovers, they’re saying they have a great and varied taste in foods. For those with a particular taste for shellfish, but struggle with having to choose between their favorites, we offer several dishes that combine them. One of the best is our Seafood Skewers, with grilled scallops, lobster, and shrimp all in one meal, served over linguine and topped with a lemon/garlic butter.

The culinary team discovered that these three shellfish, when combined on the same platter, bring out the best in each other. From their tastes, to their spells, to how they mix on a plate, it’s the ultimate seafood combination.

Scallops

We love scallops here, one of our favorite foods to put in our dishes is seared scallops. These clam shellfish have a fragile texture that may have something to do with their tender feeling. They may not be crustaceans, but they feel similar to crab and lobster, so if someone is unfamiliar with them, their appearance can be comforting. It works as one of the shellfish that completes this dish.

History of Scallops

Originally, when people first started collecting scallops in the Americas, they weren’t collecting them for food. They were actually desired for their pleasing appearance and their smell. It wasn’t until the 1600s when the Pilgrims had begun to colonize Cape Cod, that we believe scallops were definitely collected for food. While it’s certainly possible that previous civilizations ate them, this is the oldest record of it.

One of the oldest recipes that used scallops was made and published in 1846, in “Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt Book.” After that, it spiked in popularity and continued to grow into a regular part of the American diet on both coasts. It only helped that they pair well with butter, cream, cheese, and other shellfish as well.

Lobster

This is a classic restaurant shellfish, not only for its tastes, but for being the shellfish the kids would watch in the fish tanks while waiting for a table. Lobsters used to be famously cooked alive because when they die, the deadly bacteria they contain can multiply if they aren’t cooked immediately. Due to freezing technology, we don’t have to do that anymore.

History of Lobsters

Before Europeans came to America, lobsters were so plentiful that Native American tribes used them to fertilize their crops and as bait for fishing hooks. In fact, because there were so many, Native American tribes could gather them by hand along what would be known as the New England coastline. When they were eaten, they covered the seafood and baked over hot rocks. 

Lobsters were so plentiful that they were devoured by the dozens similar to how we eat chicken now. Some servants in Massachusetts had gotten so sick of being fed lobster that they would ask for stipulations in their contracts that protected them from eating lobster more than twice a week – a problem many seafood lovers would love to have now.

Shrimp

Shrimp is today what lobster was hundreds of years ago, the most common shellfish and one of the most common kinds of seafood. If you like seafood, you probably love shrimp, but when shrimp is so prevalent, culinary teams have to work together to find new ones to cook and present them. This played an important part in pairing shrimp with lobster and scallops. Together, they taste like few things our guests have had before. 

History of Shrimp

Shrimp has been around forever, but it wasn’t a popular item on American menus until 1918, after scallops and lobsters. They had a gradual rise in popularity until eventually, the U.S. became the largest consumer of shrimp in the world, which continues today. 

The first really popular dish to use shrimp in the U.S. was in a combination that mixed shrimp, ketchup, and horseradish. Not the recipe we use in our seafood skewers, but definitely interesting, and still common across the country today.

Come Try Seafood Skewers at Fire and Ice Today

If you’re a seafood lover looking for something new to try out, make a dinner reservation to come try seafood skewers. This menu item is only on our dinner list, so make reservations for a night out to try it. For outdoor dining in our igloos, make a separate reservation here.