Without getting into the whole debate of religious based dietary restrictions and whether they make any sense or not, the background you need to know for Friday Fish Frys is that in Catholicism, it is forbidden to eat meat on the Fridays during Lent, that is the 40 days before Easter. There was a time when meat consumption was not allowed on Fridays during the entire year, but at some point some people in funny robes decided that this was too difficult, and so the rules were relaxed a bit to make Catholicism more exciting.
Milwaukee, which has seen large immigration waves from several highly Catholic areas in Europe such as Germany, Ireland, Poland, and Italy, has evolved one of the strongest identities around the idea of Friday Fish Frys that I have ever witnessed. Most local restaurants have a fish fry available on Fridays, and a majority do so year round. There are always articles in the papers debating the merits of who has the best fry. And where one can get a good fry is a conversation topic I've heard several times already in my short time living here. In short, it is a topic taken quite seriously around these parts.What is a fish fry exactly one might ask?
Thorough investigation has led me to the answer that at its heart is fried fish. Shocking! In Wisconsin and much of the Midwest this means locally available fish: cod, bluegill, perch, walleye, or perhaps smelt. Said fish is then battered and deep fried to golden perfection. A side of tartar sauce and some coleslaw is almost always provides accompaniment, along with french fries or perhaps potato pancakes if the fry has German roots. Maybe a side of buttered rye bread or a roll is served as well. This of course is all washed down with a good amount of beer on your Friday night (I don't understand how the equations meat = bad and beer = good are fine by Church dogma, but you'll hear no complaints from me).
As you can see, a light, healthy meal that perfectly symbolizes the model of fitness and good health that perseveres throughout the Midwest.Or maybe not, if I can editorialize for a moment. Personally, most of the fish frys I've had are just too heavy for me, and therefore I probably don't qualify enough as an expert to be writing about this. I just don't understand the idea of smothering the fish in heavy batter and frying it to the point where mostly you can only taste the oil and batter and tartar sauce. Not to mention just the thought of putting down the entire meal as described gives me stomach pains. My favorite fry still to this day has been the lightly breaded perch at Lakefront, which allows you to still taste the fish, not to mention leave the table under your own power after the meal.
One other favorite I have tried, though less common, is a smelt fry. This little fish, often resembling a smaller version of a salmon, can be caught, fried and served whole to hungry customers. I must admit that the smelt fry I had was not at a VFW hall or local diner but a nicer, high end restaurant in Milwaukee, but still I enjoyed it quite a bit. These tiny fish, only a couple inches long and basically served whole as finger food, can be dipped in tartar sauce or ketchup and eaten in a quick bit that turned out to be pretty damn tasty.
You can find lots of variations of fish frys in Milwaukee, and just as many opinions about which is best, which is really at the heart of why I find them so culturally interesting. People here feel it is a staple of their community, and for that I respect the idea of a good fry, even if I usually am tempted to begin researching how to become bulimic after the meal.
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