Fish Friday: A History

It’s practically tradition nowadays for folk up and down the land to celebrate the end of the working week by taking home a battered fillet of cod wrapped in yesterday’s newspaper or, in our case, heading to the local area’s best seafood restaurant for their catch of the day.

So why out of all seven days was it decided this was the one to dedicate our enjoyment of all things fishy to?

Whilst the obvious answers nowadays clearly relate to a well-deserved treat after a long week in the office, as well as ‘Fish Friday’ being a cheap alliterative tool for us fishmongers to market, the legend goes back further than you may think.

As a Christian country, along with most of the Western world, our ancestors paid their respects to the death of Jesus on Good Friday by undertaking a period of fasting. Fortunately for the savviest of our forefathers, this merely meant not consuming any meat of a warm-blooded nature - the polar opposite of what comes out of the sea!

It’s for that reason that fish grew to be the staple of any meal consumed on the fifth day of the week and has even been used by Kings and Popes alike to boost the fishing industry during significantly poor periods.

Taking all that into consideration though it’s obvious times have changed as here at Sankey’s we’re ready to serve up the finest of seafood from Wednesday to Saturday, and if you’re joining us at Mount Ephraim we’ll even do so on a Sunday too – nor do you need a reason to swing by either!

‍