Why does the Filet O Fish have cheese?

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by sonak, Jul 12, 2013.

  1. sonak

    sonak Vice Admiral Admiral

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    So I was looking into fast-food fish sandwiches. And neither Wendy's cod fillet nor Burger King's Alaskan fish sandwich have cheese. It's basically just the fish, lettuce, and tartar sauce. Which makes sense, because who puts cheese with fried fish fillets? I mean, you don't associate fish and chips with cheese. Yet McDonald's puts slices of cheese in place of lettuce. Their sandwich of course came first, long before the other ones, but the "fish with cheese" combination is such a weird one that I wondered if folks knew where that came from.
     
  2. Miss Chicken

    Miss Chicken Little three legged cat with attitude Admiral

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    I quite like fish with cheese sauce so I don't think that the fish/cheese combination as all that weird.
     
  3. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    Have no idea why, but I always order without. American cheese on fried fish... eww.

    eta: damn, now I'm hungry for fast food.
     
  4. KimMH

    KimMH Drinking your old posts Premium Member

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    American"cheese" on anything; eeeew.
     
  5. Locutus of Bored

    Locutus of Bored Yo, Dawg! I Heard You Like Avatars... In Memoriam

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    It's about time Miscellaneous got to the bottom of the truly important issues. :lol:

    Anyway, here's the story of the Filet-O-Fish and when the cheese was first added (almost immediately after its invention):

    It's a big no no among a lot of Italian chefs, restaurants, and mothers to mix seafood with cheese (not that the Filet-O-Fish compares with those meals, but just saying):

    http://www.thekitchn.com/the-fish-and-cheese-debate-the-76178

    However, the oldest surviving Sicilian recipe is a fish and cheese meal, so there's that:

    And in doing research for this very hard-hitting exposé, I think you're going to find that you're in the minority about the cheese on the Filet-O-Fish, because the vast majority of links on Google were articles and blog posts complaining about how McDonald's reduced the cheese to only half a slice.

    So, there you have it. More than anyone ever needs to know about the history of the Filet-O-Fish and cheese on fish dishes. :)
     
  6. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    Just thinking about the the Fillet-O-Fish makes me sick.
     
  7. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    The "Hula burger"? It's a wonder McDonalds survived at all. Luckily Kroc had some better ideas than that one..
     
  8. Locutus of Bored

    Locutus of Bored Yo, Dawg! I Heard You Like Avatars... In Memoriam

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    Seriously. Grilled pineapple with cheese on a cold bun. Yuck.

    Here's an article about some other failed McDonald's menu items:

    http://www.businessinsider.com/failed-mcdonalds-items-2011-8?op=1
     
  9. comsol

    comsol That Guy Premium Member

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    Fish and cheese can be a wonderful combination. There was a restaurant that I used to go to that made a great grilled swordfish steak sandwich - add a slice of swiss cheese - perfection.
     
  10. Haggis and tatties

    Haggis and tatties Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Do you know what they call a fillet O fish in France?
     
  11. ITL

    ITL Vice Admiral Admiral

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    [​IMG]

    Truth!
     
  12. iguana_tonante

    iguana_tonante Admiral Admiral

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    Fish and cheese generally don't mix well. Cheddar on fried fish would taste awful. Grated parmigiano on spaghetti allo scoglio is classified as a crime against humanity.

    So it's a good shorthand for the uninitiated to be told "never put cheese on fish". But there are many exception. So it's more "never put cheese on fish unless you know what you are doing".

    I never had a Filet-o-fish, so I can't judge it. But given it's McDonald's, I'm quite comfortable thinking it's crap.
     
  13. scotpens

    scotpens Professional Geek Premium Member

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    Trust me, you haven't missed anything. :ack:
     
  14. Haggis and tatties

    Haggis and tatties Vice Admiral Admiral

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    :lol::techman:
    I had no idea it was really called that.:lol:
     
  15. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    It has cheese to stick it to the bun of course.
     
  16. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    No doubt there's probably even more failures than that list has.

    McLobster
    ? That sounds like a case of food poisoning waiting to happen, though I'm surprised McDonalds can do fish without poisoning someone once in a while.
     
  17. Deckerd

    Deckerd Fleet Arse Premium Member

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    Curious that you think lobsters are inherently poisonous.
     
  18. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    Maybe he was thinking of McPufferfish.

    Mmmm, fugulicious.
     
  19. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    I was referring more to a fast food restaurant's ability to store, handle & prepare seafood properly :)
     
  20. Peach Wookiee

    Peach Wookiee Cuddly Mod of Doom Moderator

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    I've never had the Filet-o-Fish. Never appealed to me.
    As for some of the menu offerings that failed... I liked the McDLT and the Arch Deluxe. But pizza and spaghetti... that just... yuck.