A Defense of the Fish Stick
How Inuit fish preservation techniques, an American naturalist and inventor, high-tech food processing, and sustainable fisheries management bring us a delightful food.
In the movie A Christmas Story, Schwartz memorably “triple dog dares” Flick to lick a metal flagpole on an icy Chicago day. As we all know, this is a foolish move: Flick’s tongue freezes instantly, sticking it and him to the pole where he remains until the fire department comes to unfreeze his tongue and release him.
Even if you have never licked a flagpole, you know intuitively what happened: though a metal pole and a wooden one might be the same freezing-cold temperature, the metal pole will freeze your tongue instantly and the wooden one won’t. This is because metal is a really, really good conductor of heat. It’s why we make pans and baking sheets out of metal- they do a great job of conducting the heat of a stove or oven into your food. But metal is good at conducting heat away from things as well, as Flick learned when he licked the flagpole. The metal pulls the heat from the tongue, cooling it to freezing in the blink of an eye, sticking the frozen tongue to the pole. If you need to freeze something quickly, use an extremely cold piece of metal- it’ll do the trick.
And this is exactly what Clarence Birdseye needed to do. Birdseye was an insect collector, a taxidermist and a naturalist: working for the US government, he traveled the country as an animal surveyor, collecting bugs and trapping animals for research. During one assignment in Newfoundland in the 1920s, native Inuit fishermen taught him ice fishing, and demonstrated an impressive trick: if a freshly-caught fish was frozen quickly on extremely cold ice it would, when thawed, be just as good as fresh fish. Birdseye realized that instant, super-cold freezing was the secret to improving the quality of frozen fish, and he began to experiment, using commercial freezers to freeze haddock fillets. But the trouble was, traditional box-freezers weren’t fast or cold enough. Finally, Birdseye realized that if he pressed the fish between super-cold metal plates, the fish would be frozen instantly, and still be delicious when thawed. And it worked for other foods too. Birdseye had invented the plate freezer, which quickly became the standard tool for quick-freezing fish, meat, and vegetables. He marketed these as “Birds-Eye Frosted Foods”, and sold them in little rectangular boxes- the boxes themselves fit inside the plate-freezer and were frozen as-is.
Fish fillets could be frozen separately in plate freezers, but it was even easier and better to pack them together without air to prevent frost damage. This could even be done on the fishing boat itself, maximizing freshness and quality. Only trouble was, this created large blocks of frozen fish, due to the rectangular shape of the plate freezer chambers. They tried marketing these blocks as “fishbricks”, but no dice. Nobody wanted the messy task of thawing and separating a giant block of fish fillets in their kitchen. Then, in 1953, the Birds-Eye company figured it out- by sawing the blocks into smaller stick-shaped rectangles, then breading, flash-frying and quick-freezing the sticks (leaving the fish still frozen and uncooked inside the breading), a home cook would never have to deal with slimy fish or messy frying oil again. They could simply bake the fish rectangles in the oven, creating a flaky, crunchy, delicious fish entrée. The fish stick had been invented. (legend has it that the name was given after a vote by the workers on the fish-stick line. This name didn’t catch on in England, where they called them “fish fingers”)
Fish sticks became hugely popular in the 1950s. Many Catholics observed “Fish Fridays”, especially during Lent, eschewing meat as a form of penance. Fish sticks became a great way for families to eat a fish-based meal on a busy workday. School cafeterias embraced the fish stick for similar reasons- they were reasonably healthy, nutritious, easy to prepare and kids liked them. And, they provided a great fish option when the only other real alternative was canned tuna. Even McDonalds got in on the fish stick craze, creating the Filet-O-Fish in 1962 to address slow Friday sales in predominantly Catholic Boston. The Filet-O-Fish featured a square piece of fish- really just a square fish stick- on a bun with cheese and tartar sauce. The public loved them.
Sadly, the very success of the fish stick led to its marginalization. In the late 1960s, consumers began to identify fish sticks with the processed-food boom of the 1950s, which many people sought to escape during the health-food movements of the 70s and 80s. Adults often associated fish sticks with school cafeterias, making them seem like childrens’ food, not an adult choice. Though fish sticks are made from fish fillets, either whole or minced, rumors went around that they were made from fish leftovers, skins, and other unsavory bits. The fish stick became seen as an unhip convenience food or an institutional lunch for children. Sales dwindled.
Today, fish sticks are most often made of Alaskan pollock, which is a cold-water fish native to the North Pacific and Bering sea. The Alaskan pollock fishery- the name given to the Alaskan regions where the pollock are fished - is known as a model of sustainable fish production and management. Since 1999, the fishery has used a catch-share system, which guarantees fishers a share of the total catch. The system prevents overfishing, slows down the race to catch fish before the other boats, and eliminates incentives to build more boats than are needed to catch the resource. This system has made the fishery- already naturally abundant- both profitable and sustainable. Besides fish sticks and the Filet-O-Fish, the Alaskan pollock fishery provides fresh and frozen fish all over the world, including Asia: pollock surimi is popular in Japan and the Alaskan pollock is considered the national fish of Korea, where it is known as myeongtae (명태). Pollock are caught in giant tubular nets and brought aboard sophisticated ships that are equipped to sort, clean, fillet, freeze, and package the fish onboard. They even have light tables to inspect fish for bones or parasites. Within a few hours of being caught, the pollock fillets are frozen and ready to ship. These ships are truly a marvel- they are responsible for a dramatic improvement in fish flavor and safety. And aboard most of them is a plate freezer- a direct descendant of Clarence Birdseye’s innovative design.
Alaskan pollock is white, firm, and delicious; especially when breaded and fried. This makes a high-quality fish stick a delight to eat- sometimes I call them batonnets de poisson when I serve them to my family to bypass the fish-stick stigma. Fish sticks are surprisingly simple- they usually contain only fish fillets, milk, flour, salt, breadcrumbs, and oil, exactly the ingredients I would use if preparing pan-fried fish at home. In the 1990s, as a San Diegan, I realized that fish sticks make delicious fish tacos when served on corn tortillas with a little shredded cabbage and a white sauce made of mayonnaise, yogurt, and spices. More recently, I began using fish sticks in homemade sushi rolls- they are delicious with avocado and katsu sauce.
Fish Stick Tacos
8 fish sticks, (the higher the fish/breading ratio, the better)
8 small corn tortillas (never flour- after all we are not Texans)
Green cabbage, finely shredded
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup yogurt or sour cream
Cumin
Salt
pepper
Optional garnishes: pico de gallo, guacamole, halved limes, avocado slices, Tapatio, pickled carrots and jalapeños (escabeche)
-bake the fish sticks according to directions
-while sticks are baking, mix the mayonnaise, yogurt or sour cream, a pinch of cumin, and salt and pepper to taste.
-Warm the tortillas on a griddle
-Assemble the tacos: 1 fish stick per tortilla, a smear of white sauce, and enough cabbage to fill the taco. Serve with garnishes. Makes 8 tacos.
Fish Stick Sushi
5 fish sticks
1 cup sushi rice
1 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
2 sheets yaki nori seaweed
Avocado
Katsu sauce
-Prepare fish sticks according to directions
-Wash rice and put in a pot or rice cooker with 1.1 cup water. Bring to a boil then reduce to a low simmer for approximately 20 minutes.
- Prepare avocado by slicing thinly into sticks
-when rice is done, remove from heat and add seasoned rice vinegar, tossing until lukewarm
-when rice is cool, assemble sushi: spread nori on a bamboo mat, use wet hands to flatten half the rice on ¾ of the nori. Add fish sticks, arranging them end-to-end for the entire length of the nori. Add avocado slices and a drizzle of katsu sauce.
-Roll sushi tightly and slice into 6 approximately 1.5 inch lengths.
-Repeat a second time, makes 2 rolls (12 pieces)
-Serve with soy sauce for dipping
(thanks to my friend Prof. Martin D. Smith, fish sustainability expert, for inspiring and informing this post)