To want the nanny to cook real fish not fish fingers

[PumpUpTheJam]

Nanny to 18 mo DD says she does not like the smell of fish and will only make fish fingers. I think that on a full salary and with just one kid to look after she can occasionally force herself to do this! Any strong opinions?

Can you prepare it and have it ready for her to to cook?

cant she just go the chippy....

The night/morning before can you put some boneless, skinless fish on a square of foil, add a knob of butter & sprinkle of herbs/piece of lemon on top, bring edges of foil up to meet and scrunch ends over tightly - leaving space for the fish to poach. You/She can then put it in the oven for 10 mins. When ready just open the foil and slide it on the plate - immediately throwing foil away outside, there is very little mess or smell. Serve with new pots/veg (or whatever). It's what i do as i love fish but not the lingering smell.

What about sardines?

im bangladeshi and our main food is fish and rice. to be honest i dont think fish smells i mean big fish doesnt, the smaller ones do. to me most the fish in the uk is small i.e cod, trout, mackeral haddock, and they do smell. but they tend to smell more if u get them prepacked. if its fresh from the fishmongers it doesnt reek like that.

what about prawns? king prawns u guys hate them too, its one of my faves.

also pop down to a bangladeshi grocery store when u get a chance they do huuuge fish. it doesn smell like supermarkt fish. rather than buying thr whole fish which can been too big, nowadays they do frozen blocks, and the fish is cleaned and cut up. rohu is a good starter fish, put some masala on it snd lightly fry its yummy with long grain boiled rice. be careful they wont be fillets there will be a few large bones. gual and ayr are also popular large fish. jus remeber to wash the fish in cold salty water then rinse in cold clean water a few times.....thats if anyome decides to try the fish lol.

but i do like non ethnic food too i get bored easily

mackeral is good stuffed with onions, a squeeze of lime, corriander, whole garlic cloves, seasoning splash of oil wrapped in foil and cooked.

salmon is a fave i just use salt, black pepper, lots oil and bang it on foreman grill 1/2 mins on each side of fillet. also gud with dash of paprika or tumeric.

call me a snob i wouldnt .class fish fingers as a cooked meal, its frozen unless u take fillets and breadcrumbs and make ur own., but yummy all the same.

back to question lol ur paying her to do a job she should feed ur kids whatever u desire, its not her choice. but at same time its not something impossible, i mean u could do the fish meal if it really is a problem for her. i mesn if shes a great nanny in every other way it wold be stupid to fire her or make a fuss on this one issue. right?

NOOOO, now I want fish with masala. Aaargh.

I now want a prawn korma. From the curry place off Smallbrook Queensway in Brum. I'm the wrong side of the country.

Haziedoll Yes there is, and I dont have it! Thats why I know that properly cooked fish is divine and poorly cooked fish is vom on a plate. My mum cooks fish beautifully but I always seem to manage to overcook it!

My dc flatly refuse to eat Australian fish fingers - whereas they loved the haddock ones in the UK.

I now have to buy breadcrumbed snapper (which is just the prepackaged Birds Eye type stuff - nothing glam about it at all) which is $10 for 4 pieces, ie about 7pounds.

There is nothing wrong with decent quality fish fingers.

Hoever, I would suggest you either

1. Buy some of those sealed fish steaming/baking bags that keep the smells in
   and tell your nanny that she must follow your wishes and cook the fish or she is out. OR:

2. Accept that your child will only eat freshly cooked fish on days when you are cooking for her, and just let it go.

And frankly, if the nanny is good in all other respects and your child likes her then I'd go with option 2. Don't sweat the small stuff.

YANBU. Eating fish several times a week is recommended. I'd expect her to cook it 2 times a week out of 5, you can cook more on the week end is you like.
Or when you cook it for yourself, cook extra and freeze some potions for her to warm up for your child. She can open a window, light a candle to help cleanse the air, and turn on an exhaust fan. Or go cook it outside on the bbq. She doesn't have to fry it, she can bake it or poach it in milk with sliced onions, the smell may not be as bad that way. Or microwave it. Fish fingers are ok, but she could make fish cakes from scratch, it uses cooked fish, maybe it will not be so strong a smell to her.
But, she has to feed your child the diet you have chosen.

Well I'm fence sitting. I do want my children to eat fish regularly and not just in finger form. On the other hand I hate the way my house smells after cooking fish inside. My solution is to buy a whole fish (snapper in my case), pour on a little olive oil, stuff in a few slices of lemon, wrap it in foil and BBQ it. This way the kids get fish that looks and tastes like fish and I don't get a stinky house.
Indoors I will only cook tuna steaks as they don't smell of fish or calamari rings (fresh not battered).

yabu
fish fingers are real fish.

Fish fingers are fine if you're in a hurry and the DCs are hungry.

But it's actually really easy to make them yourself - slice fish, egg, coat in breadcrumbs and fry or grill.

Can see this from both sides really. Not sure if you are being U or not.

They are real fish, but they don't look or taste like real fish and I know people who don't like to eat fish because they never had anything but ff as children. If children grow up with fish (in fish form) as part of their normal diet then it doesn't become something weird and icky.
Still, there's plenty of time for that on the weekends - fish fingers have their place too.

YANBU. You are the parent and the employer and your nanny should prepare meals according to your own family's nutritional and gastronomic standards, not her own.

And frankly, if the nanny is good in all other respects and your child likes her then I'd go with option 2. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Don't sweat the small stuff! What a shocking thing to say - where would MN be otherwise :o

I'm sure that you are not going to dismiss a good nanny because she can't stand the smell of fish, Bonsoir! OP must have times when the nanny is off duty-cook fish then. It is a very trivial problem.

Here in Paris domestic staff (nounous for the most part) are all expected to cook from scratch, and to cook according to the family's usual standards. I know that in England nannies get away with murder on the cooking front but, tbh, I think it is because employers don't get tough with them!

Don't sweat the small stuff! What a shocking thing to say - where would MN be otherwise

Love it Whatmeworry! Where indeed!

Have a hugely important problem and very few people answer-post one where the nanny has one food that she doesn't want to cook and it gets a huge response.

I answered it way back. OP cooks it when nanny isn't there or she makes her own fish cakes/fish fingers, feezes them and gets nanny to cook it. Or she could simply make fish pie and get the nanny to microwave it. There isn't a problem.

freezes

If I was a nanny and an employer was getting tough with me over a petty problem I would say thanks-I'll go elsewhere.

Why can't the DC just eat family meals anyway? If they can't eat together just freeze whatever they had in small portions and use.

Maybe, exoticfruits, but you would not get any money for that. An employer is within her rights to expect that her child be cared for by a nanny to his/her standards, not to the nanny's personal standards.