Ruth Thurstan from the University of Exeter has traced a significant narrowing in British seafood tastes over the past century by analysing more than 1,000 fish and shellfish recipes published in Good Housekeeping magazine from 1923 to the present.
Before the 1970s, UK home cooks worked with a diverse mix of species. Flatfish, herring and oyster featured prominently in recipes that emphasised domestic skills, economy and preparing whole fish. The magazine's pages included dishes like oyster cocktails and whale meat curry, reflecting an adventurous approach to seafood.
That diversity collapsed from the 1970s onward. The recipes shifted sharply toward what Thurstan calls the "big five" fish species. By the 1980s and continuing to the present day, these five species dominate the majority of recipes published in the magazine. Other species have largely disappeared from the pages, though some remain in circulation.
The research captures a real change in British kitchens and dining culture. Where cooks once worked with herring, flatfish and oysters as standard ingredients, today's home cooks encounter a much narrower range of options in mainstream recipe publications. The shift reflects both changing availability and shifts in consumer preference, though Thurstan's study focuses on what recipes reveal rather than the causes behind them.