Book of Days Tales

On this date in 1963 Doctor Who was broadcast on BBC television for the first time, so today is the 60^th anniversary (in 2023).  Big day for Whovians worldwide. Doctor Who is a British science-fiction television program still being produced by the BBC. The program depicts the adventures of a Time Lord—a time-traveling humanoid alien known as the Doctor. He explores the universe in his TARDIS (acronym: Time and Relative Dimension in Space), a sentient time-travelling space ship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. The interior, however, is huge, and is always a shock when new people enter it for the first time. It was supposed to be a chameleon, blending in wherever it went (hence a police box on earth 1963). But a technical hitch prevented it from transforming when it left earth after the initial serial, and it has been, outwardly, a police box ever since – icon of Doctor Who. Along with a succession of companions, the Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help ordinary people, and right wrongs.

No Doctor Who party would be complete without fish fingers (fish sticks) and custard.  When the 11^th doctor, Matt Smith, appeared after regenerating he is hungry so he asks a young Amy Pond to cook him something. He hates everything until he settles on fish fingers and custard.

Fish fingers and custard.

I have never been moved to eat this dish, but my son has. He told me it wasn’t horrible, but he would not want to eat it too often.  I am going to give you three general ways to approach this dish for your next Doctor Who party.

Method 1.

The most obvious. Do what Matt Smith does. Grab some fish fingers and custard.  Cook the fish fingers and put the custard in a bowl and dip away.

Method 2.

Make a savory dish of fish fingers with saffron flavored white sauce as the custard.  Prepare the fish fingers in the usual way.  Prepare the “custard” by melting 1 tbsp of butter in a skillet and adding 1 tbsp of flour and whisking over medium heat to make a roux.  Do not brown.  Slowly add ½ cup of fish stock, whisking all the time.  Add ½ cup of cream or whole milk and whisk as it heats through. Add ¼ tsp of powdered saffron (or a few threads).  Stir until the sauce is evenly colored. Put the “custard” in a bowl and dip away.

Method 3.

Make a dessert dish using cake for the fish.  Cut white pound cake into sticks resembling fish fingers. Roll them in beaten egg and then in panko (or breadcrumbs) to coat on all sides.  Shallow fry in vegetable oil, turning to brown on all sides. Put regular custard in a bowl and dip away.