One thing that can be said about a Wisconsin Friday night fish fry . . . it’s all about community. It’s as if the entire state, regardless of where one might reside, or which political or religious beliefs one adheres to, is sitting down to the same meal. One often goes to the same place and see the same people; something uniquely convivial. The Germans have a wonderful, almost undefinable word to describe it all . . . die Gemütlichkeit . . . a sense of geniality and friendliness. Everyone is out doing the same things. There is no reason to sit home alone. A Friday night fish fry bring everyone together.
This Wisconsin tradition can be traced back to the early 19th century when American pioneers and European immigrants – many of them Germans and Poles – settled along the western shoreline of Lake Michigan and its abundant lake and river fisheries. And it was religion which gave rise to the Friday night fish fry in the first place. A great many of the early arrivals were Catholic and the Church played a major role in the development of the state’s cultural and religious traditions. As far back as the mid-13th century canon law forbade Catholics to consume meat on Fridays as a way of commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. Many European Catholics brought this practice with them when they settled in America. By the mid-1960s, the Catholic church changed the rules concerning abstention from meat every Friday of the year and required parishioners to do so only on Fridays during the Lenten season. By then, however, the Friday night fish fry, which had begun as communal church dinner, had become an integral part of Wisconsin life.
The traditional Friday night fish fry received another boost to its popularity in 1920 with the arrival of Prohibition. Unable to legally sell alcohol, Wisconsin taverns began to take a lead from the Church and offer fish fries to stimulate business however they could in order to stay open. Freshwater fish like
bluegill, perch, and walleye were plentiful, cheap, and easy to prepare. And the aroma of all you can eat fried fish made it possible to mask the possibility that illegal bootlegged hooch was being served clandestinely. When Prohibition was finally repealed in 1933, fish fries and the serving of libations of choice became inextricably linked.
When I speak of a traditional fish fry, I am not talking about an offering of fish and chips – usually deep-fried cod or haddock served with a side of “chips” (the old sod term for French fries) and malt vinegar – served every day of the week. Wisconsin Friday night fish fries traditionally offer local freshwater fish such as bluegill, lake perch, and walleye which appear on the menu only on Friday evening. In my mind bluegill is arguably the tastiest fish around followed by lake, or yellow perch. Walleye, a larger and more substantial fish, is often offered at fish fries, but it's not just reserved for Fridays. Many restaurants (especially supper clubs) have it on their daily menu all year long. Areas of the state bordering the Mississippi River (the border with Minnesota and Iowa) will often offer catfish. Scandinavian settled communities in northern and eastern Wisconsin (especially in Door County, the little finger of land extending into Lake Michigan), favor the fish boil, a variant on the fish fry, which involves heating potatoes, white fish, and salt in a large cauldron.
During the spring smelt run, special "Smelt Fries" pop up around the state. Smelt are netted in rivers in the early spring and rarely appear on menus any other time of the year. They are small, similar to a sardine, and are served whole with only
the head, tail, and guts removed. I introduced my then Florida born and raised fiancée to the joys of fish and smelt fries when she visited me in Milwaukee. After we were married, we treated some of our Tucson friends to fried smelt in our humble graduate student apartment near campus (it was cheap and easy to fix). Regardless of which fish is served, beer, another Wisconsin staple, is normally used instead of water or milk to create the frying batter. It makes it lighter while adding flavor and sometimes color to the mix and very nicely seals in the flavor of the fish.
"When I go to a fish fry, I feel like I'm dining with the whole state," writes Terese Allen, coauthor of The Flavor of Wisconsin (2012) published by the Wisconsin Historical Society. "I get a very strong sense of connection with my past and my Wisconsin culture. There aren't many food traditions, except for the ones in the home, that are that way anymore. It just feels like something we all get to do together." It is an “end-of-the-work-week rite . . . that brings people together to celebrate everyday life. It’s not a holiday, but it is a regular special occasion.” And part of the allure of the fish fry is the ambiance of the establishment where it is enjoyed for whatever reason. I could not have said it better myself.
When I was growing up one of the important questions come Friday was where we were going to eat fish tonight. We would occasionally have it at home, but we very often joined our fellow Wisconsinites at a favorite restaurant – usually near our homes in Madison, Lake Mills, and suburban Milwaukee -- diner, supper club, church community hall, American Legion post depending on what fish was served, the type of batter and seasoning used, and the quality of the various offered side dishes, including potato and macaroni salad, cole slaw, potato pancakes with either apple sauce or maple syrup (or hash browns, fried potatoes or mashed baby reds), rye bread, etc. And who could forget the lemon wedges, tartar and hot sauces, and malt vinegar. A serving of baked beans was not uncommon. Even school cafeterias offered fried fish on Friday – usually fish sticks – served with tater tots or French fries.
Living as close as we do to the Atlantic and the offerings of the Chesapeake Bay, we are in no short supply of some of the best available seafood. And over the years I have preferred mine broiled, baked, grilled, blackened, poached . . . you name it. I tend to believe that frying a good piece of fish detracts from its natural tenderness and flavors. A Wisconsin Friday night fish fry is another matter. Enjoy your Chilean sea bass, your sushi and sashimi, your sesame encrusted medium rare ahi tuna, your grouper and rockfish fillets and steaks. But when it comes to Friday evening in Wisconsin, there is nothing better than local bluegills, perch and walleye. And how do we like it? Fried of course.
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