A socio-cultural-historo-culinary query

[John Talbott]

I’ve figured out that flower shops are open Sundays and holidays to permit one to take a bouquet to Granny or whoever, but why are fish and oyster places open holidays (eg New Year’s Day) when other purveyors of protein are not and why are horsemeat stores open on Mondays when regular butchers are closed (or have I answered the question)?

[luizhorta]

Because fish is part of the allowed diet for many religions on holydays? We catholics can eat only fish on some occasions during the year, namely Holy Week's Friday, Ash Wednesday and...January the 1st (for some) and all fridays during the year.

Edited January 5, 2008 by luizhorta (log)

[docsconz]

Another possibility for fish may be due to the extremely limited shelf life of the fresh product. That would be particularly important in places that really value fresh fish as opposed to frozen, which may be one reason this phenomenon is not really observed in the US.

[John Talbott]

Because fish is part of the allowed diet for many religions on holydays? We catholics can eat only fish on some occasions during the year, namely Holy Week's Friday and Passion, Ash Wednesday and...January the 1st (for some also) and all fridays during the year.

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January the 1st was the puzzler for me.

[luizhorta]

Sorry John, I wrote an "also" after January the 1st that changed the sense of my post. I mean, some catholics eat only fish on the 1st day of the year.

[John Talbott]

Sorry John, I wrote an "also" after January the 1st that changed the sense of my post. I mean, some catholics eat only fish on the 1st day of the year.

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OK, how about horsemeat on Mondays?

[luizhorta]

Google answered that one:

"I’ve always liked the story why “horse” butchers are open on Mondays. It is because in the 19th century, horse racing - and these always took place on Saturdays and Sundays – used to be rough so that many horses were injured and had to be shot, which resulted in a large number of dead horses by Sunday night. Therefore, why waste good food? Horse meat is not only low in calories but also in cholesterol and it takes a gourmet to tell it apart from beef. The dead horses were therefore taken to butchers to be cut up and sold. This was before refrigeration, so a butcher could not wait until Tuesday to get rid of his stock of horse meat and opened on Monday".

from Marilyn Z. Tomlins' blog

http://wwwfrench-marilyn.blogspot.com/

[John Talbott]

Google answered that one:

"I’ve always liked the story why “horse” butchers are open on Mondays. It is because in the 19th century, horse racing - and these always took place on Saturdays and Sundays – used to be rough so that many horses were injured and had to be shot, which resulted in a large number of dead horses by Sunday night. Therefore, why waste good food? Horse meat is not only low in calories but also in cholesterol and it takes a gourmet to tell it apart from beef. The dead horses were therefore taken to butchers to be cut up and sold. This was before refrigeration, so a butcher could not wait until Tuesday to get rid of his stock of horse meat and opened on Monday".

from Marilyn Z. Tomlins' blog

http://wwwfrench-marilyn.blogspot.com/

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Outstanding and logical; Thanks.

[sharonb]

John,

Because everyone eats oysters for Christmas and New Year's! So of course the fishmongers have to stay open... I can't count how many people I saw walking around with aluminum foil-covered plateaux de fruit de mer on those days... I love that quirky touch.

Also, hallal butchers are open Mondays (as are some nonconformist-types such as the great butcher on the rue Caulaincourt near the metro Lamarck-Caulaincourt), and all the Jewish commerçants are closed on Saturdays in the Marais.

[John Talbott]

I can't count how many people I saw walking around with aluminum foil-covered plateaux de fruit de mer on those days

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Guilty as charged. But those are the eve's of Christmas and New Years which are usually bigger deals than the days thereof or they are in the US I posit. If oyster stores are open, why not caviar, foie gras, etc., ones which are equally consumed these days? Yes oysters must be opened and eaten immediately but fish will last overnight and yet our neighborhood fish stores are always open.