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Monday 3 April 2017

The Great Fish Finger Sarnie Quest


Humble fish finger
Served best on sliced buttered bread
It is thee I quest


Yes, peeps, your erudite Pout was been stretching herself this week.  Learning Haiku (stretching herself mentally) and searching out fish finger sarnies (stretching herself physically).
Let's deal with the easy stuff first. 
Here's a fish finger sarnie, in case you're not familiar with their work.


I love fish fingers.  I expect you need two things to feed this unwaivering adoration.  1) You need to be a certain age to have grown up through the Birds Eye Fish Finger phenomenon, and 2) You need to be British, a country where every food on this planet can be made into the transportable sandwich.

There are times when perhaps we have been eating out rather extravagantly, or when I have been cooking up storms in the Pout Kitchen, and I just long for a fish finger meal.
Nursery food. Back to basics food.  Comfort food at its best.

You need to know all of this in order to understand where my head is at when writing this post. 


This plot starts out with me wearing my Wild Card, the hereto unworn Next top which I threw into my travel case.  It was the first time I have worn this top since buying it 3-4 years ago.  The. First. Time.
 It was topped by this rapidly rising star, the khaki utility jacket.

And wearing this I met up with a cousin and her hubby for an early supper in Hastings Old Town.
 

   

Now here's an uncanny thing ...
But firstly I need to introduce you to my cousin (so many layers to this post!)


My lovely coz was dressed stylishly in a grey knit dress, a multi-coloured scarf (mainly grey, teal and fuschia) and a handbag that picked out the fuschia in the scarf.

It put me in mind of something I like to wear.  Grey cardi and a scarf in grey, jade and fuschia.  And as we know from previous posts, teal and jade are colours which have a gnat's eyelash of difference between them, eh readers!  So, jade, teal = same colour = same scarf colourage.

Uncanny, eh?  Well, it struck me as uncanny that we choose similar colours and patterns. 
And if I were a handbag person, there is no doubt that I would have picked out the fuschia for my carry accessory too.   Cousins, eh?

OK, so outfits, done -  the OOTD, the cousin's OOTD and an OOTD of yore.  All done.

On to my quest.
We went to a lovely pub in the Old Town called The Crown Inn.  It smelled deliciously of woodsmoke, even though the fire wasn't lit and with this glorious spring weather, it probably hadn't seen a match for several weeks.

I spied a fish finger sarnie on the starter menu.  I stress starter as it was in reality a very robust dish, one that I had to return only half eaten, I was beautifully sated but couldn't hack even one more vegetable crisp (which were soooo yummy).



Here it is in all its glory.  Three lightly battered pieces of cod on greenery and a tartare sauce-moistened "bun" of ciabatta, served with a heavenly ruby slaw and a melee of vegetable crisps.

As it purported to be a starter and my fellow diners were having mains, I had ordered a side of double-cooked chips.  Well, I saw the starter placed before me and instantly placed the chips in the centre of the table for all to pick at.  And pick at they did, they were delicious!


 #notmyguinness
Evidence that the guinness drinker was already muscling in on my double-cooked chips action!


An aside here.  I am finding more and more that when I, the naughty one, wantonly orders fat chips, it is my abstemious and restrained fellow diners (yes, Photographer, YOU!) who invariably set about "helping me out" with the serving.  
Funny that, eh?



But no matter how much food has been returned on the plate, one (me) always has room for a locally-made icecream or sorbet, eh?  The one on the left is rhubarb ... so good.
Served in lovely old-fashioned and authentically chipped enamel dishes.


This was a superb meal.  It's in italics and bold, I think that says it all!


Then, a few days later and I was on a mission. This friend drove down and we took him out for a bite to eat at The Lamb Inn on the Pevensey marshes.  This place does a superb chicken and leek pie.  But I was quickly drawn in another direction.  I spied a fish finger sarnie on the menu (starter again) and instantly found an excuse to repeat the dish just two days after my Hastings Old Town fish finger experience.  I decided that I was now on a quest to find the best fish finger sarnie.



This fish finger offering was fine.  But I have to say that the Crown Delight has rather spoiled me and it pushed this latest offering into second place.  Of two.  So far ... :-).
This one didn't have all the tastebudzinging accompaniments.

And because the Crown Delight has seemingly spoiled me for all other fish finger sarnies, I now have to persevere on my quest for a fish finger sarnie that is going to top the Crown's.  This could be a lifetime's quest.  Oh what a way to go!!!!


Here's what I wore on my Fish Finger Quest, Day 2.
A pink Next blouse perking up grey and black.  
And a mess of Zara leoprint scarf.  One thing that I've noticed from pic-ing regularly on this blog is that I haven't got an inkling on how to tie a scarf neatly.  Oh dear, yet another quest ...


So, getting back to my intro ... Haiku.  What's that all about?
Well, since you ask, Haiku is a very short form of ancient Japanese poetry, where a story is conveyed within a structure of three 5, 7 and 5 syllabled lines.

My polymath of a guest introduced me to it during his visit and I have to say I was instantly hooked, as it's quite a challenge.
But I truly think that inspired by the humble fish finger, I have successfully risen to his challenge.

Now, what have I given you today, peeps?
OOTDs, rellies, simple food done special - and Haiku. 
Could you find such a mix on any other blog?
And hey, let's have some fun, peeps. 
How about you send me a comment below, keeping to the Haiku structure?  
I bet that's a challenge you will not see on any other blog this side of the Pecos!!

A la perchoine.



10 comments:

  1. Is the Lamb Inn
    The same one that we met you in?

    Pathetic I know but Marshes didn't seem to rhyme. You look nice as usual. x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Enid, and liking your rhyming! Yes it is where we met up.

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  2. Great one again, Mary. I love the outfit at the bottom on the right (oh THAT scarf....want want want).

    Oh, Mary, what a coincidence...I tried my hand at Haiku a couple of months ago and entered two into a competition! My first try wasn't rewarded with a first prize but I didn't come last either! Not sure if this will be a new hobby; very, very difficult to convey a feeling in three lines. Don't you think? Tanka's are so much easier... Anyway, good luck with it.

    Just like Enid, I'm wondering if the Lamb Inn is indeed the one we went to one Sunday lunchtime with Becks?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Duchesse, yes haiku is an incredibly difficult discipline, you were very brave to enter a competition.
      I'm going to have to start posting reader meet ups too and maybe my almost-meet-up with Karen!

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  3. Do you know I have never had a fishfinger sandwich,love fishfingers though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I suggest you try one soon, Polly! My mum introduced them to me and I've been a fan ever since. Interestingly, they've crept on to restaurant menus in recent years but I was content with my own at home. But last week I dipped my toe in the water, then took the plunge and now I'm hooked on the posh fish finger sarnie!

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  4. I haven't had a fish finger for years, and as it's nearly dinner time my mouth is watering as I read your post. I will set out forthwith to reunite with Captain Bird's Eye and make fish finger sandwiches for me and Mr Mutton.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do love them and to prove it I returned to inn no 1 this lunchtime for, yup, another FFS! Hope you and Mr M enjoy yours! Sadly Mr Pout is not a FF fan but hey, that means more for me!

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  5. I'll have to think (quite hard) about the Haiku! But I really love a fish finger sandwich, Birds Eye only, lots of butter and ketchup of course! Happy eating. xx Jacqui
    www.mummabstylish.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, this fancy stuff is nice but Birds Eye and white bread is the best! The Haiku is quite a challenge, I've only done it once so far.

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