1 EAGLETON NOTES: The First Time....and The Last

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Monday 10 October 2016

The First Time....and The Last

I have a problem. By inclination I am vegetarian. I do like some meat and I do eat it. I like fish. I can catch a fish, kill it, gut it and cook it. If I do, though, I can't eat it. I much prefer it if someone puts fish on a plate for me. Today I decided to have a frozen breaded fish for dinner. So far as I can recall it's the first time I have ever bought frozen breaded fish. It will certainly be the last.


One would expect from the packaging that what one was purchasing was predominately fish.  Does 54% fish constitute predominantly? It is, marginally, the largest constituent in the package but not what I had expected.


 It was certainly the least appetising form of fish that I have ever had placed on a plate before me.

 
 
I ate the 'missing' bit. The rest made its way into the bin: not even the compost heap merited its presence.

30 comments:

  1. They go to pressed meats and they press anything together. there are binders to hold the junk together. As you can tell I don't really like them but sometimes we eat theam as it's handy to prepare.

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    1. Well, Red, I thiought that this might be a tasty, quick meal. Boy was I wrong!

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  2. It only needs to happen once, right?

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  3. Oh dear, I've just had visions of a man with hedge clippers and a fish. Leone recently brought our attention to the ingredients of a packet of nuts. Same thing. It's a sad day when fish isn't fish and nuts aren't nuts!

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  4. I always have a pack of Fish Fingers in the freezer. Ours are double size, have a proper piece of Cod inside, and the coating is bread coloured. They are delicious, and contain just two ingredients; fish and breadcrumbs.

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    1. Cro I can't recall having fish fingers since I was young and even then it would have been unusual. We ate a lot of fresh fish but my parents didn't have a freezer until long after I left home. I usually keep frozen salmon in the freezer but just fancied a change. I shall look and see how much fish there is in the fish fingers in our supermarket.

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  5. Processed foods are no good in my opinion. If it is necessary to freeze fish or vegetables then buy/grow/catch your own always start from fresh.

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    1. I draw a distinction between processed and frozen foods Heron (even though I suppose technically freezing is a form of processing). Most frozen fish are fresher than fish caught and then transported long distances unfrozen because frozen fish are usually gutted and frozen immediately after they are caught. The same goes for peas although they are easier to catch.

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    2. I always find fish easier to catch...

      I eat my peas with honey;
      I've done it all my life.
      It makes the peas taste funny,
      But it keeps them on the knife.

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  6. What is really worrying - apart from annoying - is the amount of salt and sugar (yes, sugar) in the most unlikely foods. Your processed fish had plenty of that, too; Dextrose = sugar. Have a piece of chocolate, Graham; that's an honest combination of fat and sugar which does not come camouflaged as "proper" food!
    My favourite fish is trout. I love filet of trout, eaten cold, with horseradish cream and a glass of champagne. I get to eat this maybe 3 times a year, as I rarely buy fish (or meat) for myself and never drink alcohol on my own.

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    1. Coincidentally, Meike, I love trout too. When I used to go trout fishing and my wife cooked it there were few things more enjoyable. As I said, though, I couldn't catch it and cook it and then eat it myself. I know that's totally irrational. When we kept hens I couldn't eat them either (not because of sentiment but just because I couldn't). Hebridean Smoked salmon or trout fillets - not those thin pink slices - and horseradish is food for the gods! A good Sancerre or Chablis will suffice for me (and I would drink it on my own although I'd much prefer to share the experience).

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  7. Ha. Ha. I would loved to have seen your face! I found out some years ago just how horrible that junk stuff is. Not a bit like the picture on the packet. Could they be sued for gross misrepresentation I wonder.

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    1. I'm sure, Pat, that their lawyers have checked it out thoroughly. Presumably some people actually like them or they wouldn't sell.

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  8. That looks totally disgusting!Try fish fingers.They're good with tomatoes and really very acceptable.

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    1. Frances it's decades since I had a fish finger. I wonder what percentage of them is fish.

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  9. I'm reminded of an old favourite Peanuts comic strip: Linus, I think, looking at a package of something and saying: "I can't eat/drink this! It's full of ingredients!" :) I always buy frozen fish, but it's been ages since I last bought fish fingers or similar. (Usually I buy portion-packed salmon filets, so easy when one eats alone to just defrost one, sprinkle some herbal salt on it and cook in the microwave 2 minutes.)

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    1. Like you, Monica, I find frozen fish that has not been processed in any way (except filleting and freezing) a very convenient food for one.

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  10. Please don't be offended Graham but now I come to think about it, you are the spitting image of Captain Birdseye. Any chance of you posting a picture of yourself dressed like the old seadog - complete with peaked skipper's hat? By the way, good quality frozen fish fingers are worth considering - made from fillet. The real Captain Birdseye ate them all the time.

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    1. Well, YP, it looks like I am destined to try fish fingers although there is only 58% fish in a BirdsEye Cod Fish Finger. I must see if I can find any that better that. As for dressing up I would willingly do so in the correct circumstances. I once won a bet by dressing up as the Mad Hatter and walking down Dale Street in Liverpool (the hub at that time of Liverpool's business, banking and insurance empire). No one batted an eyelid.

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    2. Dressed like that I am sure you blended in well with the rest of the Liverpool populace that of course included two other intellectual giants - Doddy and Lily Savage.

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  11. Your eating habits and tastes are similar to my own it would appear!

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    1. And they are pretty healthy eating habits Lee.

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  12. GB - have you considered that the 54% refers to the amount of haddock, and not to the amount of fish? I think they may be trying to say that it's 54% haddock, and the rest is other kinds of fish. I'd contact the company, look up their website, and ask them! They may even have an online contact form. Worth a try!

    As for fish fingers, I enjoy them. We don't eat them very often, because we live on an island that is blessed with lots of fresh fish and seafood. However, when we feel like being super laid-back, we make a big pot of spaghetti with meat sauce, and serve crunchy fish sticks alongside. It's really quite tasty! I like them crispy, so I leave them in the oven until the batter is good and browned. Fish sticks and spaghetti was one of our favorite weekend treats when I was a little girl.

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    1. Marcheline they are Haddock fillets. If there was any other fish it would have to be listed separately in the ingredients. Frankly they were so awful I shall never be buying them or any of their similar products again. We have lots of fresh fish and fishfood available here too but I am not keen on eating fish that I have to gut or prepare.

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  13. I've gone to the website and gotten the contact information for Birds Eye UK:

    United Kingdom
    Birds Eye Limited Freepost
    ADM3939
    London
    SW1A 1YS

    Call us free
    Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm
    UK Freephone on 0800 33 22 77

    EMAIL ADDRESS:
    carelinecontact@birdseye.co.uk

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  14. Maybe you were supposed to buy the other package with the 46% fish to complete the whole fish.
    Try to stay away from processed food....not good for you.

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    1. You're right Virginia it is better to eat fresh food but, frankly, sometimes prepared food is just so much easier.

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