Where to eat lobster in Mexico City?

It is interesting to observe how we unconsciously (and sometimes quite consciously) associate food with social status. For example, the word caviar automatically evokes luxury and elegance. The same can be true for lobster. What is remarkable is that these two foods did not always have such a distinguished spot at the dining table. Let’s take a look at lobster for now.

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Lobster

It’s no secret that lobster is is considered a gourmet dish and, therefore, comes with a gourmet price tag. However, few may know that this was not always the case. In the 19th century, lobsters were called sea cockroaches by fishermen off the coasts of eastern Canada and New England, perhaps because of their appearance and shell, but also for their copious quantities. Due to their availability and low cost, they were used as food for the lower classes, prisoners, slaves, and even farmed animals like pigs.

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How it became a sophisticated dish

Likewise, it was one of the few foods that was not rationed during the Second World War thanks to its excessive supply, allowing many people the opportunity to get to know and taste it. But in the United States, the railway service began serving it in the dining car as if it were an exclusive dish, thus increasing its popularity, demand, and price.

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Why its value remains high

Since then, the value of the lobster has remained high, regardless of whether the supply is greater than the demand. This mainly has to do with two issues. The first stems from the logistics involved in getting a lobster from the sea to the table, as it must arrive alive and should be prepared immediately upon selection. A lobster decomposes rapidly and lets off a foul stench, and anyone who accidentally ingests a decomposing lobster will likely suffer for it. The second issue is that the meat it provides is considerably little; half a kilo of lobster yields only about 20 grams of meat.

While no longer a food for the masses, the name sea cockroach has not disappeared. Today it has been applied to the chiton – a mollusk known as the sea pill, and which is also a delicious delicacy.