A Tale of Two Butties

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I've spent a good couple of hours this afternoon installing the latest release of Linux Mint on my MacBook Air [pictured left], to replace the rather broken previous system which I couldn't update. Between that and my old MacBook Pro 13" is a plate upon which is my supper for tonight: a four fish finger sandwich, something I've not made for a while now, and which I'd been hankering all day for. What began as a humble working-class snack dreamt up by time-constrained 1960s mothers-on-a-budget, has become part of the boomer culinary mythology, alongside the cheese and crisp [potato chip] sandwich and instant mash. All of which gradually replaced the cucina povera of our earlier childhoods, such as dripping on toast, eggy bread, and even, in my family's case, of lamb's brains on toast.

These days, the humble fish finger buttie is just as likely to appear on gastro-pub menus in the more chef-ie form of white fish goujons in tempura, served in a sandwich of artisan sourdough with a superfood salad and with freshly-made sauce tartare replacing the tomato ketchup of the [admittedly salad-less] old-school version. Add about fifteen or twenty quid to the cost of eating the thing, and there you go: a thoroughly modern take on a sixty-year-old treat. Which is the healthier? I'll admit, probably the new version, but I would guess by not a great deal, all said and done. Which is the one I prefer? Old school, of course, and I'm still alive and kicking to tell the tale. A bit of crap never hurt anyone. You've just got to know how much of it to eat, and when to stop...

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