After university I moved in with my grandparents for a couple of years. My Sister had taken my room as soon as I moved out and my Mum couldn’t afford to have me back without board (and I couldn’t afford the board)!
However, one positive aspect of being the product of a teenage pregnancy that you don’t see touted often is that it provides you with a pretty young extended family, so my grandparents are active, fun and pretty enjoyable to be around. They like a drink, have a wicked sense of humour and really appreciate a good meal. They also loved their routines and rituals, one of which was ‘Fish Thursday’. Yes, you read that right, Fish Thursday.
I’m fully aware of the various religious traditions of abstaining from animal meat on a Friday as penance to mark the day of Christ’s death, with many families opting for fish instead, but we are a family with a complete absence of religion. Beyond hymns at school we were raised without religion, it wasn’t even a conscious thing, it just wasn’t on our radar. Fish Thursday stems from nothing but routine.
Every Thursday my grandparents would take the bus to Hebden Bridge, (the lesbian capital of the UK just FYI), to walk the canal, browse the second hand shops and visit the market. Part of the market is formed by a travelling fishmonger where they would always pick up something fresh for dinner that evening.
For someone of her generation my Grandma is a pretty adventurous cook. Sure she does all the specialities grandmas are general known for; Sunday roasts, Yorkshire puddings, pies and cakes, but she also isn’t afraid to give something new a go, especially on a Thursday.
We would have everything from homemade fish fingers to steamed mussels with cider, trout en papillote, cod and chorizo stew, I even recall an attempt at sushi!
I have long since moved out but I like to keep the tradition of Fish Thursday alive, partly out of nostalgia but also having a designated day for an ingredient far from constraining you actually forces you to be more creative.
Sure there are days when it’s just tuna mayo on a jacket potato (or even a trip to the chippy!) but for the most part it’s a break from the cycle of the more routine meals during the rest of the week and an opportunity to try something new. Fish is also good for you! Plenty of omega-3 for your brain and vitamin D for your immune system, you should really be trying to eat fish at least twice a week, another benefit of which is it reduces the consumption of red meats, the farming of which is much more harmful to the environment, so it’s good for the planet too.
Every family (and individual) has their food routines and rituals, both mundane daily or weekly ones and those reserved for special occasions. Fish Thursday is a great one to take up if it fits in with your diet, it’s beneficial to your health and the environment, and it’s a boon to your cooking repertoire!
What food rituals do you have?
-M