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MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2015
L
ouisiana is known as a bastion of fine, delicious dining,
particularly in the realm of seafood. But on Fridays during the
Lenten season, the star of the show is often a white styrofoam
to-go container brimming with a bevy of seafood dishes and sides,
the offerings of fish fries — communal events hosted by churches and
Knights of Columbus halls throughout Southeast Louisiana.
It is a joke of sorts that is mentioned in kitchens and grocery
stores, restaurants and front stoops, about all those “poor” Catholic
folks across South Louisiana, for whom the Mardi Gras season
and feasting on king cakes ends, the traditional Lenten season of
sacrifice begins. And with that, Catholics are once again faced with
the tradition of avoiding meat on Fridays and encouraged by their
faith to turn to seafood for their main source of protein. That leaves,
as the joke goes, to HAVING to dine on seafood platters, boiled
crawfish, seafood gumbo and the like.
Fish fries serve a variety of purposes: raising funds for a church,
school, auxiliary group or charity. But equally important they offer
a chance to bring people together to enjoy a meatless meal, easing
the load on the home cook, with to-go orders ready for pick up at
the end of a long work week.
Roman Catholic churches across America hold fish fries to raise
money during Lent, but in New Orleans the fry has become a
citywide event, and in all likelihood a more flavorful event than in
other parts of the nation.
Father Dennis Bosse, Pastor of St. Mary of the Angels Parish in
New Orleans’ upper Ninth Ward neighborhood, recalls similar
weekly events in his native Cincinnati, Ohio. “But the fish fries taste
much better here,” he says. Father Bosse oversees his parish’s efforts
every Friday during Lent,
except Good Friday. The star
of the show is fried catfish. Side
dishes served include macaroni
and cheese, potato salad, peas or
beans, bread, salad, dessert and
a drink. Preparation and service
calls for a team of volunteers
from young adults to seniors, who begin early in the morning and
serve from 11:00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m. or so, he says.
“It’s a chance for us to provide a Lenten meal, but more
important, it gives us an opportunity to build a stronger sense
of family atmosphere in our neighborhood,” says Father Bosse.
At most fish fries, catfish reigns king. But parishes and auxiliary
groups are going beyond fish to offer those partaking options to
sticking to the no-meat Friday tradition. Menus are including
crab cakes, seafood jambalayas, po-boys, gumbos, and crawfish
pies, and sides are as varied as the seafood, including cole slaw, hush
puppies, and more. At St. Joseph’s Co-Cathedral in Thibodaux,
they serve Lenten gumbo.
On one particular Friday during Lent, a most special fish fry is
held, hosted by Lantern Light, a ministry of the Presentation
Sisters in New Orleans. The small cadre of nuns — who without
fanfare feed and aid approximately 200 homeless people every day
— take one Lenten Friday and dedicate it to raising much needed
funds through a super bowl of fish in the Harry Thompson Center,
adjacent to St. Joseph’s Church on New Orleans’ Tulane Avenue.
This year will be their sixth event. Chef Matt Murphy, of Irish
House and “Chopped” fame, helps to organize a group of local
chefs who help prepare the food.
“When you see the work these people do, and those in need, it
helps you to remember to count your blessings,” says Murphy, who
has seen the proceeds grow from a few thousand dollars to over
$17,000. The key to success, he says, is drawing from far and wide,
including the business community, who are encouraged to order
to-go meals for employees in large quantities. The Lantern Light
menu traditionally includes catfish, macaroni and cheese, corn salad
and dessert, some years provided by Sucre’s Tariq Hanna.
“There are a lot of very generous chefs and people who make the
fish fry a success, including Rouses,” notes Murphy. “If a chef can’t
be there in person, quite often he or she will send over a specialty
dish they prepare in their kitchen, so we include a little something
different. And everybody works together to prepare and to serve …
but the greatest thing is the spirit of the people, so many, who come
to support the day.”
Fish fries have grown so popular that the Archdiocese of New
Orleans created a Twitter hashtag, #fridayfishfry, in 2012 to help
locals and visitors alike find the weekly meals. Visiting the hashtag,
a person can learn where weekly events are being held, and in some
cases menu items or parish-based specialties. Each week may have
a different cause associated with the funds raised though the fish
fry, and the Archdiocese tries to incorporate that as well. This year’s
hashtag will launch on Friday, February 20, the first Lenten Friday
of the 2015 season.
So it might not be much penance after all, having to find sustenance in
more seafood than normal during
the Lenten season. And with
all the delicious fish fries hosted
throughout the metropolitan
New Orleans area, it’s an easy
sacrifice to offer up for the spiritual
betterment and nourishment of
our souls. Add the tartar sauce.
During Lent, 40% of Rouses Friday seafood sales are catfish
filets. “It’s not unusual to see a nun or a priest in our seafood
department on a Thursday night or Friday morning during Lent,”
says James Breuhl, Rouses Meat & Seafood Director. “We feel
blessed that they shop at Rouses.”
friday
Fish Fries
the
Southern Food & Beverage
issue
by
Mary Beth Romig