How fish on Friday changed the world Reviewed by DARRELL TURNER Did the church s rules against eating meat on Fridays fuel a demand for fish that spurred European voyages to North America?
Anthropologist Brian Fagan doesn t provide a conclusive answer to the question he poses in his new book, Feasting, Fasting and the Discovery of the New World. But he does offer a wide-ranging collection of material on church history, climate change, shipbuilding and other esoterica, including historic and modern fish recipes that were personally tested by his colleague Daphne Derven. Dr. Fagan, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, traces the significance of fish in Christianity to the faith s early days, including the work of several of Jesus disciples, his invitation to them to become fishers of men, and the IXTHEUS acrostic and symbol used to represent Christ. He notes that a growing belief that consumption of meat created what St. Jerome called the seed plot of lust because of the semen-producing quality of flesh led to an emphasis on fasting and fish-heavy diets. According to Dr. Fagan, another factor that led the church to promote consumption of fish during
