[kbenson]

> It was in fact considered food for poor people which is quite strange since it was imported from far places.

Well, so was lobster at one point...

[carlob]

As a matter of fact the two stories are related, because code is one of lobster's main natural predators and overfishing of the former led to an overpopulation of the latter.

[masklinn]

Necessity being the mother of invention, that's a common theme to the more traditional cuisines.