Fish Pudding

1950s era casserole made of rice, fish, and milk

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City/Region: United States of America

Time Period: 1954

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Stoves and ovens have gone through so many changes throughout history, from cooking over open fires to modern gas and electric models. My house, built in the 1950s, came with a stove from around the same time. At the time of filming, the oven wasn’t actually working, so I used a modern oven to cook this fish pudding recipe from 1954. All in all, I probably did the poor old oven a favor, because the fish pudding was not good.

Each component separately was actually tasty. The fish was of good quality and seasoned well, and the rice part was like an unsweetened rice pudding. The problem was that the two just didn’t go together, and combined they had a texture like mushy fish. There’s a reason that you don’t see recipes for fish pudding in modern cookbooks.

“XYZ Fish Pudding
Boil Fish in salted water about 45 minutes, or until tender. Drain, skin carefully, pick out bones, and flake finely. Cook rice with water, 2 cups milk and salt for 20 minutes. Put a layer of drained rice in 3-quart casserole. Add a layer of fish. Season with butter, pepper, salt, and continue with alternate layers until casserole is two-thirds full. To well-beaten eggs add 5 cups milk. Pour over rice and fish, and bake uncovered for 1 hour in a 350° oven. Serves 12.”

— The ABC of Casseroles, 1954

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Ingredients:

• 5 lbs (2.25 kg) haddock or other flaky fish
• 3/4 cup (160 g) rice
• 2 cups (475 ml) water
• 2 cups (475 ml) milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs, well beaten
• 5 cups (1.2 L) milk
• Butter, to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Fill a large pot with water and add about 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt for every quart of water. You basically want it to be as salty as seawater. Bring the pot to a simmer, add the fish, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. Keep an eye on it because you want it to be nice and tender, but not so tender that it falls apart in the pot like mine did.
2. Once the fish is done, take it out of the pot and remove the skin and the bones and flake the meat nice and fine. Don’t forget to get the meat from all of the fish, including the cheeks. Set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
4. Rinse the rice. Combine the rice, water, 2 cups of milk, and 1 teaspoon of salt in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes, uncovered. You should end up with a rice pudding consistency.
5. Cover the bottom of a large casserole dish evenly with half of the rice. Add an even layer of half the flaked fish, then dot it with butter and season with salt and pepper. Repeat the layers of rice, fish, and seasoning with the remainder of the rice and fish.
6. Mix the 5 cups of milk with the beaten eggs, then pour that over the casserole. Bake for 1 hour, then serve it forth.

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