"The Friday Fish Fry...A New Orleans Tradition!" Feb 24, 2023

The Friday Fish Fry … A New Orleans Tradition!

The Friday fish fry is a well-known and beloved New Orleans tradition with deep roots. While it is a popular Friday tradition all year long, it is especially popular during Lent. But where did this tradition come from? Why are we the keepers of the best Fish Fries? Well, besides being located on the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, the answer is rooted in several parts including the Catholic Church and our city’s history of European immigration.

The tradition of Christians fasting on Fridays to recognize Jesus' crucifixion on Good Friday dates back to the first century AD. In the early days of the church, leaders called for Catholics to abstain from eating warm blooded meat on Fridays as a penance to commemorate the day of Jesus’ crucifixion. Additionally, fish had been associated with religious holidays even in pre-Christian times. The first mention of fish in connection with Lent comes from Socrates of Constantinople, a church historian in the third and fourth centuries who spoke of abstaining from meat and meat products (such as cheese and eggs) during the 40 days of Lent. The custom was mentioned by Pope Gregory I, who was elected in 590, and was later incorporated into canon law. However, fish (cold blooded meat) were allowed because Jesus cooked fish for His Apostles after His Resurrection, and most of these men were fishermen. The practice of Friday abstinence (not eating warm blooded meat) came to America with the arrival of many Catholics in the 19th century. 

The tradition in New Orleans began because the city and surrounding areas were settled heavily by Catholics of Italian, Irish, German, and other backgrounds whose religion forbade eating meat on Fridays. The modern fish fry tradition is strong in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, where many parishes hold fish fries on Fridays during Lent. A typical New Orleans fish fry consists fried catfish with other seafood thrown into the mix such as shrimp and oysters. The meal usually comes with tartar sauce, French fries/boiled potatoes, coleslaw, boiled corn, and bread. 

It’s not exactly hard to find a plate of fried fish in this town on any given day. But the Friday fish fry gives a humble dish structure and a new meaning. It changes it from something we eat, to something we do. It could simply be the lunch order for the office where someone hauls back a teetering tower of food cartons and the whole group takes that lunch break together, because it’s fish fry Friday. Or it could be the outing to the neighborhood church, the one you attend or the one you just always drive past. On fish fry Friday, everyone is together.

It is a tradition maintained by small communities, and the conviviality that people put into them. It’s the people at the fryers, the ones with sandy golden fish fry up to their wrists, the ones taking orders at the folding tables, and even the ones who just show up to eat, with their kids freshly sprung from school or with their friends all rendezvousing to kick off the weekend. The character of the fish fry is in both the preparation and the partaking. A plate of fried fish is not going to feel like much of a penance, not here and not with some talented Louisiana hands at the fryer. But with the tradition and the people and the community they create together, this time of year that plate of fried fish definitely has power. And with any luck, yours will come with some good potato salad too!

Join us at Divine Mercy Parish for the best Friday fish fry in Kenner! Drive thru fried fish plates are available ever Friday during Lent (except Good Friday) from 11am till 7pm at the Parish Center.
 
Fr. Robert T. Cooper, Pastor
Divine Mercy Parish and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School