White Steak

What is it about fish that gives it such a bad name? Maybe it's the stinky smell. Or the whole pet goldfish thing. Or the slimy scaly skin and bulging eyes that creep me out. Whatever it is, I don't really enjoy eating fish (or any seafood) unlike my husband, who on our honeymoon ordered a dish in Italy that I still refer to as giant bowl of friends. I think it was some kind of fish stew or cioppino.

When I was a little girl I loved tuna sandwiches. My mother would make them for me all the time. Then one day, Grandma Neat (that's what we called her) offered me a tuna fish sandwich. Tuna fish? Yuck, I don't eat fish. Now before you compare me with Jessica Simpson, rest assured that I was way too young to know the difference. My mom simply never called it fish. Kinda like how my older sister called it "white steak." I think I ruined it for her kids when I spilled the beans and refused to eat it. By this time I was wise to the color of meat and had never heard of "white steak." It sounded (and smelled) fishy to me.

Now that I'm an adult, sometimes I will order some nutty mahi-mahi when we are in Hawaii because it's festive and I know it's fresh. I also eat tuna sandwiches again. And in recent years I even started eating sushi but it's limited to tuna and salmon. I mostly eat fish because it's deemed healthy but I don't really like the taste. I just can't seem to shake the fish tank image from my mind. I guess it's kinda like how a vegetarian sees the whole cow and not the scrumptious Filet Mignon steak.

Tonight I completely shocked myself. We went to dinner at Wahoo's Fish Taco restaurant and I ordered Sophia a rice bowl with grilled fish. At first I hesitated because she probably wouldn't like it, right? Even Dan questioned my menu choice. But I figured if she didn't like it we could trade. (Funny note: neither Dan nor I ordered fish at the fish taco place). Luckily for me, Sophia ate the whole thing and I think she really liked it. So I'm wondering...do I tell her it's fish whenever she eats it? Or do I call it white steak?