Why can’t they have basic fish?

[PleasePassTheCoffeeThanks]

School dinners. My DC never seem to have fish that is not deep fried, battered or hidden in a dish (covered in mash and/or sauce, broken down in small pieces).
Why can’t it be simply pan fried or steamed?
It is almost as if we don’t want DC to «see» the fish.
AIBU?

Op can you really imagine 500 or whatever primary kids eating fish soup? That's just bonkers. Give them fish soup for dinner or at the weekend if you want to.

“A nice fish casserole cooked by an attentive chef is a very different proposition to school lunch fish stew.“
Oh god yes- the idea of school fish stew is terrifying! Particularly the second sitting.....

It’s an indictment of how crap the food culture is in this country compared to similar economic status countries like France.

I love fish but the worst food I have ever encountered was mass catered fish on a school trip to France in a canteen. The smell hit you on entering the room. It was hideous. We queued up and realised what the smell was. There were randomly sized lumps of it- mostly bones and flabby disintegrating grey skin with scraps of grey flesh, swimming in half an inch of grey water in those big battered square metal school catering trays. I clamped my lips shut to hide the retching as mine was slopped onto my plate. I didn't eat any and nobody ate more than a mouthful. You would have needed to be properly concentration camp starving to eat it. We couldn't get out of the room fast enough.
Nearly 30 years later nothing has yet come near it as the worst thing I have (not) eaten.

I love fish and eat it in most forms but could not stomach a fish stew. Something about it just seems a bit grim.

We used to have it. They did it in a large tray. Rows of squares of white fish, all wet and grey. They used to sprinkle those orange breadcrumbs you could buy in a cardboard pot over the top of it, to make it look more edible. And yes, it used to smell rancid and taste bland. We had it with mashed potato and the legendary white cabbage with black dots on it (pepper I think) which was also tasteless.

We used to eat it because there was nought else. A lot of it ended up in the slop bucket though.

School budgets would not allow a nice piece of salmon or plaice. I cool a lot of fish at home.

I love fish - I hate mass catered steamed fish even in our award winning cafeteria at work.

I think mass catered steamed fish would be pretty grim tbh

I have been subjected to mass catered steamed fish when I was at school.

Stickybat is right. It IS grim!

Children know what fish fingers/battered fish are and most children like them.

@1Morewineplease is right, children are getting more and more fussy. Hungry children are horrible to teach and frankly as much as my own children have been taught they have to at least try anything on their plates and can eat it or go hungry, its not a battle I want to have with lots of other peoples children, I don't want a grumpy hungry class and I have better things to do than listen to parents complain that I didn't encourage their child to eat, or that I did encourage them, or that I asked them to try the food they ordered, or that I didn't make them try, because in fact whatever I do will be wrong and I get enough of that about behaviour and lessons without adding in steamed fish. (even though I agree OP, fish is awesome and children should try more flavours)

@1Morewineplease
I believe I may be somewhat younger but went to a rural primary school and you ate what you were given. Mainly meat and veg with sponge and custard for pud. Chips were rare. Fish I don't recall, possibly as we were in a landlocked county. Also agree with a previous poster, am concerned about bones when I cook it myself and would not feed to a small child.

I do love a fishfinger buttie x

I love fish. I'm from Hull. It's in me blood.

Fish stew done in a 50p per head budget does not appeal, though. Good fish, in this country, makes lamb look cheap (and I can't actually do mackerel because it gives me a migraine)

Baked fish fillets should be possible I would think, but whether you could get that within budget I don't know.

For those saying that kids should eat what they're given and all the fish lovers, you would despair at DD and I.

The smell of fish, even cooking or at the supermarket counter, causes me to physically throw up. I cannot stand the stuff. Fish will never, ever pass my lips.

My DF tried DD with fish, because I obviously couldn't.
She had never seen me gag or vomit over the smell because I do not have it in my home.

DF said that as soon as he cut the fillet of cod (I think it was) she threw up everywhere; and that was the end of that.

If DDs nursery cook and serve fish she has to eat separately from the rest of the children so that she isn't sick.
I cannot imagine what she would (will?) do when she gets to primary, walks into the warm dinner hall and is greeted with the odour of mass-produced, overcooked boiled/pan-fried fish.

A fish finger might mean she's able to eat with her friends, the other will probably see her sent home once a week.
But because it isn't technically an allergy, people think we're being fussy and OTT (until we're actually sick.)

It's nicer poached in milk and butter

When I was 6 I was kept in the lunch hall for 2 hours for refusing to eat sardines.

They were looking at me.

Maybe whoever's writing the menu went to my primary school?

Going to get flamed for this but my kids eat Mediterranean style fish stew and fish curry and kedgeree and salmon. Also quite partial to a fish supper from the chippy.

The standard of school food in this country is frankly appalling. I grew up in the seventies eating freshly cooked, good quality school dinners. No choice, about three people in the whole school brought sandwiches and people just ate what they were given.

I can understand why they serve fish fingers as they are cheap and easy to cook, and children will recognise them. But I do think it is sad that fish fingers or possibly fish from the chippy are the only types of fish many people eat in this country. Very depressing that although we are an island nation we export most of our fish.

I think fish figures highly in Finnish schools from nursery, and not the fish finger variety. They also don’t get a choice. So some countries manage it.

@frumpety
UK fishing industry meet your UK consumers, are you sure it's all the EU;s fault ?

I was thinking exactly the same thing. The comments about fish are really immature.

I remember more fish being about from my childhood. We were an ordinary working class family and didn’t eat anything poncetastic but we regularly had fried cod, poached haddock, smoked mackerel, trout if someone had caught one.

Fish fingers and oven breaded stuff did not feature. Salmon came in tins and tuna was considered a bit déclassé.

Oh and plaice and chips was my dads go to if we ate out.

Maybe because plain fish isn't all that great OP. I must ask, is it something that you would happily eat, or just something you'd force upon your children? I understand your point about the batter etc, but at the end of the day, your children will enjoy insipid, watery food just as much as you would. Personally I would welcome more adventurous school dinners. It doesn't do DCs any harm to try new things.

I know its a popular combination but I've never thought baked beans and fish went together, anyone else?

I'm with you, in the lexicon of lazy meals beans are served with toast and fishfingers with peas.

Just checked my kids' primary school lunches and they have fish fingers and beans, salmon cakes and peas, and oven baked fish and beans (all on 'Fishy Friday'). The secondary school does fish fingers, baked fish, and salmon, leek and potato bake. Both schools have their own canteen.

I do think NT kids would be less fussy if we, as a society, gave them more opportunities to try a wide variety of foods. We're lucky with our kids' school meals and I don't think within the cost and mass catering restraints they do too bad but e.g. most restaurants offer sausages, or pasta with a tomato sauce or frozen pizza or chicken nuggets and that's it. Why more don't just do half portions I don't know?

Wagamamas have the best kids menu IMO, nandos isn't bad either has there's lots of sides options including green veg and corn on the cob.

I hate those 'world buffet' places (too much choice!) but they are great for getting DC to try new things - DS has something like a slice of pizza along with singapore noodles, a teriyaki skewer and random salad bits.

My kid eats pretty much anything but I’m not sure even he would touch a fish soup! I don’t think I would either! Fish is so easy to get wrong and make disgusting.

Why are people making out that ‘plain fish’ is such a weird thing? Do people never have a steak or a pan fried chicken breast ?