TODAY IN FOOD: It’s Surf & Turf Day
 You can order this feast online from Abernook LLC. |
Now, we must ask: Why would anyone make Surf & Turf Day fall on February 29th? Should we celebrate this tasty holiday only once every four years? Perhaps it’s put on Leap Day because of its ostentatiousness—it is, after all, a dish that combines the two most expensive dishes on the menu, lobster tail and filet mignon. (Shrimp and steak can be substituted.) Surf and Turf, or Surf ‘n’ Turf (to be even more vulgar), is an American invention. Two coasts vie for inventing rights. The earliest-known published use is in a 1967 advertisement in the Buffalo, New York Yellow Pages, where it was advertised by Michael’s House of Steaks. | |
| However, there is a second claim, without printed proof, that the same dish by the same name was served at the Sky City restaurant, in the Space Needle, at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. The dish is called “Reef and Beef” in Australia. Evidently, ostentatious displays are not limited to the U.S. | ||
