A Meal Just for the Guys, Except Mom Is Also Invited
When I first proposed Guys' Night to our sons, Oscar and Julius, it wasn't our first rodeo. We had spent plenty of nights alone together. Formalizing the ritual was my attempt to awaken the sense of opportunity presented by a family meal minus Mom that went beyond the established pillars of pizza and screen time.
The boys are enthusiastic, if idiosyncratic, eaters.
Served food he doesn't immediately recognize, Julius, age 8, typically responds by sitting upside down in his chair or staring at his plate as though it were a scar-faced man with a hook for a hand. Oscar, age 10, is a principled pescatarian who can be persuaded to make exceptions to his diet for meatballs, chicken wings, xiao long bao, andouille gumbo, Texas barbecue and veal.
Selecting the dish to initiate our tradition was not a trivial matter. I wanted it to be anchored by an ingredient that speaks to where we live, in southeastern Louisiana, but doesn't conform to stereotypes about what guys like us are supposed to eat. That meant no vernacular dishes — our New Orleans kids eat plenty of New Orleans cooking — and no performative carnivorism. Our Guys' Night would not be typecast.
Swordfish checked a lot of boxes. It's new to the boys, with a name that appeals to their fascination with brutal combat. It was also what was available, fresh from the Gulf, at our favorite fishmonger in March.
Recipe: Swordfish With Tomatoes
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