"Max" wrote ...
> Hi
>
> Does anyone know anything about the origins/history of the
> prawn/shrimp cocktail dish?
>
> Any info gratefully received!
>
I suspect the lack of answers is evidence not of a lack of interest, but due
to a question for which there may be no definitive answers.

How long have folks eaten boiled shrimp?

Who first discovered that cooked shrimp kept longer than raw shrimp?

Who first awoke hungry and shelled a few shrimp left over from last night's
"boil up" and discovered that cool/cold shrimp were quite pleasant?

Shrimp cocktails were certainly a regular menu item in fancy restaurants in
the mid19th century and in the US spread rapidly to become "the" appetizer
in restaurants in the mid20th century, the standard precursor of steak.

....But then I can recall asa lad sitting on the plaza in Vera Cruz peeling
shrimp and eating them with key lime juice, salt and chiles, under the
general impression that folks had been doing the same since Cortez passed
through town.....;-P

TMO