Categories: uncategorized
Date: 30 November 2006 08:04:25
Following Rain's recent confusion, I thought I would provide a public service and give you a brief history of the humble fishfinger.
It was 1812 (just in time for tea) when the first fishfingers arrived in Britain, brought back from the west coast of Africa by the famous mariner Captain Clarence Birdseye. An unusual figure amongst his peers, the Captain spent his days sailing off to discover exciting new foodstuffs around the world, aided only by a crack team of small children he'd plucked out of performing arts schools. Of course, this was a more innocent time, when an old man could justifiably spend all his time in the company of minors without having front page headlines in the Sun demanding that he suffer death by corporal punishment and questioning the legitimacy of his parentage. (Child labour laws would also prevent this nowadays. And there's probably some health and safety guidelines it would breach too.)
Sailing around Africa, Capt Birdseye and his young crew noticed a rare breed of fish, which appeared to have two large hands where its fins should be. After catching a few of these creatures, his young charges hit upon the idea of serving the fingers from these hands at the Captain's table. Unsure of how this new delicacy should be served, however, they opted to simply cook and serve the fingers exactly as they had been on the fish - boneless and covered in crispy golden breadcrumbs.
As the Captain sat at the table, one of his young charges brought forth the platter of fishfingers with the words, "I've brought your dinner up, Capain." "Serves you right for eating it", replied Birdseye. Once that misunderstanding had been cleared up, however, he tucked into a hearty meal of fishfingers, and immediately saw the potential for this dish becoming popular back in Blighty.
Upon his return to England, Birdseye took a sample of his new discovery to Queen Victoria, who very much enjoyed them. (He also told her the "brought your dinner up" story, but she was not amused.) From here, fishfingers became one of the most popular dishes at dinner parties and high class families' tables throughout the land. They would be served with a garnish of chipped potatoes and garden peas or, for the more adventurous, chipped potatoes and baked beans. And in the early 20th century, chefs at the Savoy hotel revolutionised fine cuisine even further by placing the fishfingers between two slices of bread and smothering in tomato ketchup, in a dish which they christened, "The Fishfinger Sandwich".
Incidentally, the same rare fish from which Captain Birdseye's fishfingers are still derived to this day, also provides the parts used by fellow entrepreneur Ronald McDonald for his decadent concoction, the Filet O' Fish. However, taste and decency forbid me from revealing which parts of the fish Mr McDonald uses.