Surf and turf

Surf and turf

Surf and turf: lobster and steak at a Canadian restaurant in Prince Edward Island.
Main ingredients	seafood and red meat

Surf and turf or surf 'n' turf is a main course which combines seafood and red meat. The seafood used may be lobster,prawns, or shrimp, which may be steamed, grilled or breaded and fried. When served with lobster, the lobster tail or a whole lobster may be served with the dish. The meat is typically beef steak, although others may be used. One standard combination is lobster tail and filet mignon. Surf and turf is eaten in steakhouses in the U.S., Canada and Australia, and may also be available in some British/Irish-style pubs in those countries.

It is unclear where the term originated. The earliest known citation is from 1961, in the Los Angeles Times.

Surf and turf was often considered to symbolize the middle-class "Continental cuisine" of the 1960s and 1970s, with (frozen) lobster and steak as ersatz status foodstuffs for the middle class.

The name has been reappropriated ironically by more recent chefs such as Thomas Keller.