Rant #1,293: Fishy Thoughts

One of the things that my doctor told me during my recent examination is to continue to eat fish over beef.

I crave a piece of steak, but I have always liked fish too ... or at least some fish.

I hate salmon, but I do love flounder, tuna fish--yes, the canned variety--and tilapia.

And I like some ethnic fishes, things that are in my Jewish blood, like gefilte fish and smoked white fish.

And it is about white fish that I am going to talk about today.

I have always liked white fish.

Maybe it currently conjurs up in me days of yore, when, as a little kid, my mother would take out the meat from this fish for me, right from the chub, or later, when I would actually have the whole fish in my plate, with the head and eyes still attached, and I did the honors myself, but there is something about white fish--bones and all--that I have always liked.

(And I don't mean the slang expression that uses white fish, "Coney Island Whitefish," which if you don't know what it means, please look it up. That is not what I am talking about here.)

Anyway, way back when, you could get two chubs for like $2, maybe even less, and in areas that I lived in, white fish was plentiful at any appetizing counter in any supermarket.

So literally through my 20s, I occasionally had this delilcacy, which tasted so good but cost so little to enjoy.

Tastes changed, people moved around, and since not as many people were buying white fish, those that carried it pushed the price up, but I still ate it when I could find it.

Now, in my 50s, go look for white fish ... I can't find it anywhere.

I have gone into many supermarkets, both big and small, looking for white fish, but to little or no avail.

I have asked others to look for it for me, and they cannot find it either.

I realize that white fish is really a Jewish thing, much like gefilte fish is.

But it isn't like bagels, a Jewish creation that has become almost as synonomous with American tastes as pizza is.

You can find gefilte fish just about at any supermarket--no, I haven't checked out any bodegas recently--but you can't find white fish.

Then my mother, also a white fish lover, let me know that in the local King Kullen, they are selling white fish salad, and although it is a bit pricey--nearly $7 for a little tub--it might satisfy my cravings.

Try it, you'll like it.

And I did, and yes, while it isn't white fish like I remember it, it is a good enough substitute.

No, the head isn't in there, and it is mixed with some other things, but it is good enough for now.

The last time I bought it, it was reduced 50 cents in price, so I looked at it as a bargain.

It is made by a company named Acme, out of Brooklyn, New York.

No, it is not affiliated with Wiley Coyote and the Road Runner, but they seem to make a good product.

But I am still looking for that elusive white fish, a chub that I really could dig into now as a full-fledged adult.

If anyone knows where you can get white fish--with the head intact--please let me know.

What I have is OK, but I really, really want the real thing.

There's nothing like the real thing, baby, there's nothing like the real thing ...

Speak to you again on Monday.