Fish finger

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Fish fingers
Fishfinger classic fried 2.jpg
Fried fish fingers
Alternative namesFish sticks
Place of origin United Kingdom
Main ingredients Whitefish, battered, or breaded
Baked fish fingers on baking paper Fishfingers on parchment paper.JPG
Baked fish fingers on baking paper
Filling inside a fish finger Fishfinger classic broken 2.jpg
Filling inside a fish finger

Fish fingers (British English) or fish sticks (American English) are a processed food made using a whitefish, such as cod, hake, haddock, or pollock, which has been battered or breaded. They are commonly available in the frozen food section of supermarkets. They can be baked in an oven, grilled, shallow fried, or deep-fried.

Contents

History

The term "fish finger" is first referenced in a recipe given in a popular British magazine in 1900, [1] and the dish is often considered symbolic of the United Kingdom. [2]

The food restrictions during and after WWII expanded the consumption of fish fingers, but companies struggled to maintain decent quality. [3] [4] The commercialization of fish fingers may be traced to 1953 when the American company Gorton-Pew Fisheries, now known as Gorton's, was the first company to introduce a frozen ready-to-cook fish finger; the product, named Gorton's Fish Sticks, won the Parents magazine Seal of Approval in 1956. [5] [6] The developer of those fish sticks was Aaron L. Brody.

There was an abundance of herring in the United Kingdom after World War II. Clarence Birdseye test-marketed herring fish fingers, a product he had discovered in the United States, [7] [8] under the name "herring savouries". These were tested in Southampton and South Wales against "cod fingers", a comparatively bland product used as a control. Shoppers, however, confounded expectations by showing an overwhelming preference for the cod. [9] The snack was nearly called Battered Cod Pieces, until a poll of Birds Eye workers opted for the snappier Fish Fingers. [10] [11]

Varieties

Fried fish fingers, Kolkata, India Fried Fish finger.jpg
Fried fish fingers, Kolkata, India

Minced fish comes in industry standard 7.5 kg frozen blocks for further slicing and battering. [12] These are more commonly used in store brand economy products. They may have either batter or breadcrumbs around the outside as casing, although the coating is normally breadcrumbs. [13]

In addition to white fish, fish fingers are sometimes made with salmon. [14]

During the late 1980's and early 1990's there was Crostinos 1 that contained Chips coating instead of breadcrumbs.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roe</span> Egg masses of fish and seafood

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicken nugget</span> Small pieces of deboned, breaded, and battered chicken meat

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breadcrumbs</span> Residue of dried bread

Breadcrumbs consist of crumbled bread of various dryness, sometimes with seasonings added, used for breading or crumbing foods, topping casseroles, stuffing poultry, thickening stews, adding inexpensive bulk to soups, meatloaves and similar foods, and making a crisp and crunchy covering for fried foods, especially breaded cutlets like tonkatsu and schnitzel. The Japanese variety of breadcrumbs is called "panko".

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  2. a dish made of such slice, often breaded
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A fishcake is a culinary dish consisting of filleted fish or other seafood minced or ground, mixed with a starchy ingredient, and fried until golden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fried chicken</span> Dish of chicken pieces coated with seasoned flour or in batter and then fried

Fried chicken, also called Southern fried chicken, is a dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried, or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or crust to the exterior of the chicken while retaining juices in the meat. Broiler chickens are most commonly used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croquette</span> Small breaded, deep-fried food

A croquette is a deep-fried roll originating in French cuisine, consisting of a thick binder combined with a filling, which is then breaded. It is served as a side dish, a snack, or fast food worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cod as food</span> Gadidae fishes in human nutrition and cooking

Cod and other cod-like fish have been widely used as food through history. Other cod-like fish come from the same family (Gadidae) that cod belong to, such as haddock, pollock, and whiting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alaska pollock as food</span> Eating species of cod globally

Alaska pollock, a species of cod (Gadus) found in the North Pacific Ocean, is used as food globally. Compared with common pollock, Alaska pollock is milder in taste, whiter in color, and lower in oil content.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinamita</span> Filipino fried crêpe-wrapped pepper dish

Dinamita is a deep-fried Filipino snack consisting of stuffed siling haba wrapped in a thin egg crêpe. The stuffing is usually giniling, cheese, or a combination of both but it can also be adapted to use a wide variety of ingredients, including tocino, ham, bacon, tuna, and shredded chicken. Dinamita is also known as dynamite lumpia, among other names. It is a type of lumpia and it is commonly eaten as an appetizer or as a companion to beer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lumpiang keso</span> Filipino deep-fried crêpe-wrapped cheese

Lumpiang keso is a Filipino deep-fried appetizer consisting of a stick of cheese wrapped in a thin egg crêpe. It is more commonly known as cheese sticks, cheese lumpia, or cheese turon. It is usually served warm and crispy, with a dipping sauce made from a mixture of banana ketchup and mayonnaise. It can also be served with garlic mayonnaise or sweet chili sauce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corn schnitzel</span> Israeli corn dish

Corn schnitzel is an Israeli fried corn dish and variant of Israeli schnitzel that is especially popular among vegetarians, vegans, Kashrut keepers and children.

References

  1. "History of Fish Fingers". Foods of England. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  2. Cloake, Felicity (2015-09-15). "Fish fingers at 60: how Britain fell for the not-very-fishy frozen sticks". the Guardian. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  3. Josephson, Paul R. (26 November 2015). Fish sticks, sports bras, and aluminum cans : the politics of everyday technologies. ISBN   978-1421417844 . Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  4. Novak, Matt (12 August 2016). "How Fish Sticks Became the Food of the Future That Nobody Asked For". Paleofuture. Gizmodo.
  5. Pacific Fisherman 54 (1956) p. 55.
  6. Josephson, Paul (2008). "The Ocean's Hot Dog: The Development of the Fish Stick". Technology and Culture. 49 (1): 41–61. doi:10.1353/tech.2008.0023. ISSN   0040-165X. JSTOR   40061377. S2CID   110903114.
  7. Cyril Dixon, "The facts of fish fingers", The Independent , 21 August 1994 (online)
  8. David Hillman and David Gibbs, Century Makers: One hundred clever things we take for granted which have changed our lives over the last one hundred years, London: Weidenfeld, 1998 / New York: Welcome Rain, 1999, ISBN   9781566490009
  9. "Teatime staple marks half century ", BBC News, 26 September 2005.
  10. "Fish fingers 'surprisingly sustainable'". BBC News. 2018-11-02. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  11. Clayton, Hugh: "Constancy of fish fingers a symbol of calm in a trade of frequent change" in The Times, 9 May 1980, p 17.
  12. "7.5kg fish block production" (PDF). May 2009.
  13. "STANDARD FOR QUICK FROZEN FISH STICKS (FISH FINGERS) - CODEX STAN 166–1989" (PDF). Codex Alimentarius. WHO. 2017.
  14. "10 fish sticks zalm" Archived 2014-07-27 at the Wayback Machine , IGLO 27 Juli 2014.

Bibliography