Three boys grew up on a farm, liked to hunt and fish, and amazingly got along together just fine. When farming got tough the oldest ought work, the middle one worked harder on the land, and the youngest "stayed ready." Once grown the three young men were working sandblasting steel for extra money at a local business. One showed up late for work with a pail full of pan fish. (We don't know which one as brothers cover for each other.) During the short lunch break the task of filleting the fish became a priority and the only proper equipment on hand was the youngest brother's knife. No proper wooden board was available for, after all, it was a steel yard.
After looking around, a steel grate was found and it was placed over a 50 gallon drum by the two older boys. The youngest was challenged to get to work on the fish. This was after being reminded how the previous night at the local pub he boasted he could "fillet a minnow with a butter knife." He did all the fish in record time and confessed later the grate kept the slime from slowing him down, and the rough surface kept the fish from slipping around.
Now you would think the story ends here but it doesn't. You see, 80% of the fish are caught by 20% of the fishermen (and even if you're female or a child, you are still a fisherman). But everyone who tries expects to be successful to some degree or another sometime, so you need a Fillet King for that time. However, even the 20% have their "off-days" but the Fillet King does not lie idle.
The boy's mom was in her kitchen doing "mom things" and had a nice fresh loaf of store bought French bread. The boys had left one of their newly invented boards on the counter and she used it to cut the bread, thinking the crumbs would fall through the grate and thus keep her counter clean. Next, she uses the board for cutting the tomatoes from her garden before dinner, again keeping her kitchen counter clean. Then as long as it's out, she places the evenings roast on the board, rest assured it will be juicy when carved. She collects the juice in the tray, and the grate keeps the meat from sliding around when it is carved for serving.
At night she leaves it by the toaster and in the morning the boys butter their toast on it. Seizing the opportunity she leaves the board by the toaster and in the morning the boys butter their toast on it, and each time she sees them in her clean kitchen she says in her mom's voice (the one we all have imprinted into our souls) "do it on the board."
So that's the way it all happened - more or less.
One more little tidbit - the boys occasionally catch really big fish and their mom cooks big turkeys and bakes lots of cookies for the entire family. So the boys use two boards end to end to fillet big fish and she places two boards width way for the turkey. She uses four boards to cool cookies. The really great news is that her husband now uses the boards when working on his hobbies. Claims he doesn't have to bend over to pick up little parts he drops, he just lifts the tray and there they are.
Fillet King ® is a registered trademark of
Superior Blue Products, Dresser, WI
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