Most of New England disagrees with the dictionary definition of scrod, saying that it isn’t a fish at all, though what a scrod is seems vary.
By Harold Brent|Jan 13 2015|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine Keenan
What is Boston scrod, anyway? The American Heritage Dictionary calls scrod “a young cod or haddock, especially one split and boned for cooking.” Most of New England disagrees with this definition of scrod, saying that it isn’t a fish at all, though what a scrod is seems to be all over the map. Boston’s Parker House says the term was invented there (along with Parker House rolls and Boston cream pie). Hotel chefs needed a general word for a featured fish that they could put permanently on printed menus (another Parker House innovation). Most of the authorities we surveyed agree: Scrod is a “catch of the day,” usually referring to cod, halibut, haddock, or pollock. Some went so far as to point out an acronym: Scrod means “Select Catch Received on the Day” unless the catch was halibut, and an “H” would be added.
We’ll take ours with a nice cream pie, thanks.
Excerpt from “The New England Sampler,” Yankee Magazine, July 1996.READ MORE: About the Sacred Cod…or Haddock…or Schrod…or?
Up on Boston’s Norths Shore, especially in Gloucester, while it definitely is a “the catch of the day”, I’ve always heard it referred to as “Select Catch Received on the Deck”. I’ve never heard Halibut referred to as “scrod,” only fish from the cod family (i.e. cod, haddock, pollock, etc.). It’s also usually an 8 oz filet – anything bigger isn’t “scrod.”
I had always heard that it wasn’t just the catch of the day – but it was the top of the catch – meaning the last fish haul caught that was placed on top of the pile – meaning it was the first to come off the boat and therefore the freshest of the day.
Scraps Remaining On Deck.
Not quite so appetizing, huh?
Up on Boston’s Norths Shore, especially in Gloucester, while it definitely is a “the catch of the day”, I’ve always heard it referred to as “Select Catch Received on the Deck”. I’ve never heard Halibut referred to as “scrod,” only fish from the cod family (i.e. cod, haddock, pollock, etc.). It’s also usually an 8 oz filet – anything bigger isn’t “scrod.”
My dear departed Dad, a Navy man, said it was the past tense of screw – as in we are “scrod.”
I had always heard that it wasn’t just the catch of the day – but it was the top of the catch – meaning the last fish haul caught that was placed on top of the pile – meaning it was the first to come off the boat and therefore the freshest of the day.