when you hear a strange sound, drop to the ground
Its appeal is inscrutable, perhaps out of proportion to its paltry constituent parts. Consider the recognizably flaky fish patty, made from the ubiquitous Alaskan pollock. "Pollock is everywhere," writes the marine fisheries biologist Kevin M. Bailey in the book "Billion-Dollar Fish." "It is the pure white meat in fish sticks bought at Walmart and Filet-O-Fish burgers ordered in McDonald's." But you wouldn't want the fish to be more interesting. The generic quality of pollock's fishiness --- common enough for various cuisines to lay claim to it --- is part of its allure. So maybe what makes the sandwich beloved isn't its taste at all, but the juxtaposition of its elements: A single fillet of fried fish, topped with a thin slice of American cheese and tartar sauce, all of it cradled in a bun whose impossible roundness suggests the triumph of industrial food production.