Pan-fried scallops. pxfuel.com / CC0 1.0
The 2nd of October is Fried Scallops Day.
Pan-frying scallops, which today celebrates, is perhaps one of the most popular ways of cooking them in the United States and Canada. But battering or breading them, and deep-frying them, would also count as well!
Someone must really like scallops a lot, because this is the second day in the year dedicated to them. Baked Scallops Day in March also celebrates them.
Many people probably don’t know what a scallop looks like in its natural form — they see one only on their plates, out of its shell.
Scallops are a very lean protein — in fact, Weight Watchers has even made them a zero point food (well, unless you deep fry them, of course.)
There’s often lots of confusion over the English word “scallop”. “To scallop” in cooking has two different meanings, and helpfully of course, neither actually has anything to do with the seafood called “scallops”.
#FriedScallopsDay #NationalFriedScallopsDay #Scallops
See also: Scallops, (To) scallop, Escallop, Collops, Baked Scallops Day
History
The earliest print mention that CooksInfo is aware of “Fried Scallops Day’ dates from October 2015 in Mississippi:
“National Custodial Workers Recognition Day (Oct. 2) observes the hard work folks put in to clean schools, offices and businesses. On the day, World Smile Day is recognized. Who doesn’t need a smile now and then? It’s also National Fried Scallop Day, yummmm.” — Rogers, Mark. October observances abound. Columbia, Mississippi: Columbian-Progress. Saturday, 3 October 2015. Page 5, col. 3.
Sources
Deschenes, Steff. Eat the Year: 366 Fun and Fabulous Food Holidays to Celebrate Every Day. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Running Press. 2014. Page 304.
Each Ring On A Scallops Shell Is A Year Of Life Or Stressful Situation. Miami, Florida: South Florida Reporter. 2 October 2017. Accessed September 2021 at https://southfloridareporter.com/ring-scallop-shell-year-life-stressful-situation/
Good Day Café: Fried scallops. Portland, Maine: WGME News. 2 October 2019. Accessed September 2021 at https://wgme.com/news/local/good-day-caf-fried-scallops