Gadhus Morhua

When my Jameson grandmother was in hospital in Dublin in the early 1970s she was in a public ward and found the food excellent.

She liked the social life in the ward with visitors coming and going and stopping to chat. She was also introduced to a delicious new dish and confided to my mother it must have been fiddly to make for so many patients. It was also very healthy although I suppose she was unaware of this.

These days the best fish fingers are filled with gadhus morhua, commonly known as Atlantic cod. Now a word about the enrobing machine used to apply the batter. The batter is cheaper than the cod and indeed many people who would never eat a fillet of cod lap up cheap fish fingers with more batter than fish, often having them in a lavishly margarined butty. This is often the prelude to a deep-fried Mars Bar. Being unfamiliar with this delicacy I must quote Wikipedia.

“A deep-fried Mars bar (also known as a battered Mars Bar) is a Mars-brand chocolate bar covered in batter then deep fried in oil. The dish originated at a chip shop in Scotland as a novelty item. Since various mass media began reporting on the practice in the mid-1990s – often as a critical commentary on how unhealthy the Scottish diet was the popularity of the dish has spread.” (Wikipedia)

This is supper party material. I like them with baked beans but they look more sophisticated with flageolet beans and a few small boiled new potatoes (tinned are best for both). On no account serve with tomato ketchup – too transport caf – provide a sauce boat filled with tartar sauce, the former preferably silver.  Your friends may be relieved to see some unfucked-up food on their plates and not have to endure some “actually it’s the first time I’ve tried the recipe” dish. Recommended for bachelor boys.