Popcorn shrimp

Last updated
Popcorn shrimp on the right half of the plate 2016-07-07. Red Lobster. (27653546223).jpg
Popcorn shrimp on the right half of the plate

Popcorn shrimp is the name of several small shrimp fritter dishes, [1] so called because they are finger foods eaten like popcorn. [1]

In 1974, the American restaurant chain Red Lobster introduced a menu item called "popcorn shrimp", [2] [3] a fritter of small shrimp meat, which they still offer as of 2021. [4]

Other restaurants were also serving menu items named "popcorn shrimp" as early as 1975. [5]

In 1986, General Mills, the owner of Red Lobster at the time, applied to register the trademark "popcorn shrimp" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, stating they had been using it since 1977. It took two years to be granted, but then General Mills cancelled it the following year. [6]

Some sources suggest that popcorn shrimp originated as a Louisiana cuisine, and chef Paul Prudhomme made it famous. [7] However, at least for the name, what Prudhomme invented was Cajun popcorn, which he put on the menu of the restaurant he worked, sometime later than 1975. [8] Prudhomme published a recipe of Cajun popcorn in his cookbook in 1984. It is fritter of crayfish, made by dipping peeled crayfish tails in a batter of eggs, milk, corn flour, wheat flour, and spices, then deep-fryed, and served with sherry wine sauce. [9] [10] He added that shrimp can be used as a substitute for crayfish. [9] Eventually, "popcorn shrimp" became associated with Prudhomme. [7] Apart from names, neither Red Lobster's home page nor Prudhomme's book mention the origin of their dishes.

Today as of 2021 in the US, the words "popcorn shrimp" has no live trademark registration for foods, [11] and over 20 companies sell packaged foods by that name. [12]

Variations of popcorn shrimp span from heavily breaded styles, [13] to light tempura-style. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cajun cuisine</span> Franco-American food developed by the Cajun people

Cajun cuisine is a style of cooking developed by the Cajun–Acadians who were deported from Acadia to Louisiana during the 18th century and who incorporated West African, French and Spanish cooking techniques into their original cuisine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shellfish</span> Culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates

Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some are found in freshwater. In addition, a few species of land crabs are eaten, for example Cardisoma guanhumi in the Caribbean. Shellfish are among the most common food allergens.

<i>Tempura</i> Japanese dish of battered, deep-fried fish or vegetables

Tempura is a typical Japanese dish that usually consists of seafood and vegetables that have been coated in a thin batter and deep fried. Tempura has its origins dating back to the 16th century, when Portuguese Jesuits brought the Western-style cooking method of coating foods with flour and frying, via Nanban trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana Creole cuisine</span> American regional cuisine

Louisiana Creole cuisine is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana, United States, which blends West African, French, Spanish, and Native American influences, as well as influences from the general cuisine of the Southern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zatarain's</span> American food and spice company

Zatarain's is an American food and spice company based in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States that makes a large family of products with seasonings and spices that are part of the cultural cuisine and heritage of Louisiana and New Orleans' Cajun and Creole traditions that includes root beer extract, seasonings, boxed and frozen foods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remoulade</span> Mayonnaise-based cold sauce

Rémoulade is a cold sauce. Although similar to tartar sauce, it is often more yellowish, sometimes flavored with curry, and often contains chopped pickles or piccalilli. It can also contain horseradish, paprika, anchovies, capers and a host of other items.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Prudhomme</span> American chef

Paul Prudhomme, also known as Gene Autry Prudhomme, was an American celebrity chef whose specialties were Creole and Cajun cuisines, which he was also credited with popularizing. He was the chef proprietor of K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans, and had formerly owned and run several other restaurants. He developed several culinary products, including hot sauce and seasoning mixes, and wrote 11 cookbooks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surf and turf</span> Dish containing both seafood and meat

Surf and turf, sometimes called reef and beef, is a main course combining seafood and red meat, typically beefsteak. While lobster and filet mignon are a standard combination, variations common to steakhouse menus include prawns, shrimp, squid, or scallops, which may be steamed, grilled, or breaded and fried.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jalapeño popper</span> Breaded, fried, stuffed jalapeño pepper

Jalapeño poppers, or jalapeño bites, are jalapeño peppers that have been hollowed out, stuffed with a mixture of cheese, spices, and sometimes ground meat, and breaded and deep-fried. They are a common dish on appetizer menus in chain restaurants in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fried shrimp</span> Type of food

Shrimp or prawn dishes are often prepared by frying, especially deep frying. There are several styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicken Maryland</span> Fried chicken dish with cream sauce

Chicken Maryland or Maryland chicken is a historic dish associated with the U.S. state of Maryland, but has other meanings from other nations. In its home base, the food dish consists of fried chicken served with a cream gravy. It is traditionally garnished with bananas, which were historically one of Baltimore's leading imports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken</span> American fast food chain

Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken is an American fast food chain that started in 1976 in Los Angeles by Joe Dion, a Michigan native.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrimp and prawn as food</span> Crustaceans used for culinary purposes

Shrimp and prawn are types of sea animals that are consumed worldwide. Although shrimp and prawns belong to different suborders of Decapoda, they are very similar in appearance and the terms are often used interchangeably in commercial farming and wild fisheries. A distinction is drawn in recent aquaculture literature, which increasingly uses the term "prawn" only for the saltwater forms of palaemonids and "shrimp" for the marine penaeids. They are the animals most commonly used and killed for food production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crayfish as food</span> Small crustaceans in human cuisines

Crayfish are eaten all over the world. Like other edible crustaceans, only a small portion of the body of a crayfish is edible. In most prepared dishes, such as soups, bisques and étouffées, only the tail portion is served. At crawfish boils or other meals where the entire body of the crayfish is presented, other portions, such as the claw meat, may be eaten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine of New Orleans</span> Culinary traditions of New Orleans, Louisiana, US

The cuisine of New Orleans encompasses common dishes and foods in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is perhaps the most distinctively recognized regional cuisine in the United States. Some of the dishes originated in New Orleans, while others are common and popular in the city and surrounding areas, such as the Mississippi River Delta and southern Louisiana. The cuisine of New Orleans is heavily influenced by Creole cuisine, Cajun cuisine, and soul food. Later on, due to immigration, Italian cuisine and Sicilian cuisine also has some influence on the cuisine of New Orleans. Seafood also plays a prominent part in the cuisine. Dishes invented in New Orleans include po' boy and muffuletta sandwiches, oysters Rockefeller and oysters Bienville, pompano en papillote, and bananas Foster, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krispy Krunchy Chicken</span> American fast food chain

Krispy Krunchy Foods LLC, also known as Krispy Krunchy Chicken or KKC, is a quick-serve fried chicken chain founded in 1989 in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has over 2,700 locations across 47 states in the U.S., and is offered mainly in convenience stores and gas stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Boiling Crab</span> American restaurant chain

The Boiling Crab is an American restaurant chain serving food from Cajun cuisine. Founded in 2004, the chain has 30 restaurants, mainly centering them in the Southwestern United States, although it has some international locations and others outside of the area.

References

  1. 1 2 Smith, Andrew F., ed. (2004). "Shrimp and Prawns" . The Oxford encyclopedia of food and drink in America. Vol. 1 (1 ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 488. ISBN   0195175514. LCCN   2003024873 . Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  2. Myers, Dan (2015-07-01). "9 Things You Didn't Know About Red Lobster". The Daily Meal. It’s Where Popcorn Shrimp Was Invented. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  3. "The story of Red Lobster". Red Lobster. 1974. Archived from the original on 2021-08-11. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  4. "Popcorn Shrimp". Red Lobster. Archived from the original on 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  5. "(advertisement) PIER 5". Technician . 55 (53[50]). NC State Student Media: 3. 1975-02-05 via North Carolina State University. Popcorn Shrimp $1.99
  6. "US Registration Number: 1480922 POPCORN SHRIMP". USPTO . Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  7. 1 2 3 Dupleix, Jill (2012-11-06). "Popcorn shrimp". The Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on 2021-08-18. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  8. Grimes, William (2015-10-13). "Paul Prudhomme, famed Cajun chef, dies at 75". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Archived from the original on 2021-08-18. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  9. 1 2 Prudhomme, Paul (1984). "Cajun popcorn with sherry wine sauce". Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen. New York: William Morrow and Company. pp. 281–283. ISBN   0-688-02847-0 . Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  10. "Louisiana chef's Cajun 'popcorn' is really batter-fried crawfish". UPI . 1984-04-17. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
    • A copy of the recipe in Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen but fraction numbers were lost in OCR, so some measurements are blank or wrong.
  11. "Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)". USPTO . Retrieved 2021-08-18.
    • in "Search Term:" enter "popcorn shrimp" and submit query. Examine each results' Live/dead indicator, Disclaimer (whether it covers the words themselves or only graphic designs), Goods and services
  12. "(search) popcorn shrimp". FoodData Central. United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 2021-08-16.
    • Search by string "popcorn shrimp". Click "Branded Foods" tab. As of 2021, 34 results from 21 owners were found.
    • Raw data can be obtained at Download FoodData Central Data
  13. "Popcorn Shrimp Recipe". NDTV . Retrieved 2021-08-18.

See also