Beloved by some, merely tolerated by others, the fish stick became ubiquitous—as much an inevitable food rite of passage for kids as a Western cultural icon. There’s an entire South Park episode devoted to riffing off the term fish stick, and the artist Banksy featured the food in a 2008 exhibit. When Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 90th birthday, in 2016, Birds Eye presented her with a sandwich that included blanched asparagus, saffron mayonnaise, edible flowers, caviar, and—most prominently—gold-leaf-encrusted fish sticks.
...I was the guy in high school that actually looked forward to fish stick Fridays...
I recommend the Ultimate Fish Stick, available at Costco.
I have also discovered that after frying a Turkey, fill up a basket with tator tots drop it in and that’s right up there on the comfort list... next up would be the badket of fish sticks, in the turkey oil... ain’t nothin’ better.
Fish sticks...known in England as fish fingers.
Chicken finger and fish sticks = kid’s food
I love them. I remember fish sticks being served in the school cafeteria every Friday - didn’t know why at the time, but it didn’t matter.
I begged my mother to buy them for us at home...to no avail.
If folks knew of the snotty, gelatinous bottom feeding trash, hauled out of the ocean in dragline nets, they might reconsider.
“White fish” ain’t Whitefish.
It’s Pollack. Like roaches of the ocean.
Nasty crapola.
I “fasted” on fish stick days.
Got a good family laugh about it many years later.
The only fish my Mother would cook when we were kids . She , for some reason , hated fish , Ironically , grew up a minute from Peconic Bay on Long Island .
When I was in high school I worked for my dad’s company. Among the employees was a father and two of his sons. His son’s were hardcore bodybuilders.
One night I was at their house hanging out and was invited for dinner. Their mom was out so Norm, the dad made dinner. Boxes and boxes of fish sticks. Bodybuilders need massive calories. I’ll bet we ate 200-300 fish sticks that night.
I don’t have any hatred if fish sticks but can’t recall if I’ve had them since.
I used to make fish sandwiches with them...just fish sticks on a burger bun, nothing else.
Nope, don’t want my lima beans in a stick, I want it in a bowl, after being cooked with a nice hambone.
Oh and cornbread, must have cornbread with lots of butter. :)
You’re always picking on my lima beans- you beanist.
Fish sticks and tater tots every Friday.
But not everyone seems confident about what exactly they’re eating when they consume the breaded fish. In the United Kingdom, where fish sticks are known as fish fingers, a survey revealed that one in five young adults believes they are actually the fingers of fish.The USA must have exported its educational system.
When we had four young kids, fish sticks were our go-to meal when we were too exhausted to really cook but had to put dinner on the table. That, and a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. And of course a big dollop of ketchup on the plate to dip the sticks in.
I remember back in the 60’s Fish Sticks tasted pretty good but had some the other day and they have NO taste
Never had fish sticks. Not real big on fish aside from smoked salmon. My parents loved fish. Grew up on the coast of MA, 50 miles South of Boston so fish was a big thing. Everyone in the family loved clams too but I couldn’t stand them. When we went to Ho Jo’s, I might get the clam strips which is just the neck. Couldn’t stand the bellies. The only sea food we ate that I liked was lobster. My dad and his uncle were lobstermen but my dad only did it for 10 years or so and way before I was born. His uncle did it for over 50 years. We had lobster 2-3 times a month and the guy up the road gave us a pretty good price since we had lobstermen in the family.
All those guys went out alone and my dad couldn’t really swim. These days lobstermen go out as a two man team.
The fish ma cooked was always breaded and fried. Everything at Ho Jo’s was breaded and deep fried. Lobster is very high in cholesterol. Needless to say, both my parents had heart or circulation issues.
My wife and I have been married 44 years this August in spite of me serving her fish sticks when she came over to my apartment for supper when we were dating in college. At that time, I had no idea she did not like fish. I, OTOH, grew up in strongly Catholic town (I was not) so fish was regularly featured in the school cafeteria and I learned to like it. Fast forward to college days in the mid-70s, fish sticks were a cheap way to get protein and maintain a food budget.
She still does not care for fish so I only get that when we eat out or another alternative is available when eating at home. Example: Easter included the traditional ham but also featured deep-fried striped bass fillets caught a couple of days earlier in Lake Texoma by my son, his daughter, and me.
I don’t read anything The Atlantic publishes.
When I was growing up, Friday night dinner was usually fish sticks and mac and cheese.