Catholic Fish

March 7, 2018March 14, 2019 - Scott Leave a comment

I grew up Catholic in Central Illinois. One of my childhood memories is that during Lent (the church season we are now in, which comprises the 40 days before Easter, not counting Sundays), we would always have to eat fish on Friday. When I asked why, I was told that we were abstaining from meat as a sign of sacrifice to remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross. Apparently fish isn’t meat.

The best reason, such as it is, for this distinction is found in St. Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica, which is actually a much more amusing read than it sounds. There’s a bit more to it than this, but basically it boils down to “meat is more pleasurable to eat than fish.” With Lent being a solemn season, the Church didn’t want people going out of their way to make merry.

There’s nothing about this in the Bible, of course, because Lent didn’t exist yet when the Bible was written. And St. Thomas Aquinas wasn’t writing down his discourse until the 13th century, so obviously, we’re dealing with a lot of tradition that evolved through the centuries.

The problem with made-up rules is that you’re always. . .

Looking for loopholes.

By my teen years, I had come up with several. Our local Godfather’s Pizza had shrimp available as a topping. That was legal. (I know, veggies would have also been legal, but HELLO, TEENAGER! And don’t get me started on cheese pizza. That’s like kissing your sister.) Once I got tired of shrimp on a pizza, I learned to time the arrival of a Domino’s pizza precisely at 12:01 AM on Saturday. Also legal.

Basically, being a rebellious teenager, I was looking to do ANYTHING but fish. When I officially broke from the Church as an adult, I would deliberately eat cheeseburgers and such on Friday as an act of rebellion.

After a while though, I came to a realization. Catholics have been eating fish on Fridays for centuries. When you do something for a really long time, you tend to get really good at it. One day, one of my fellow Protestant friends said, “I’m craving Catholic fish. Where can I go to get Catholic fish this Friday?” Lightbulb moment. Churches all over our area were hosting Lenten fish frys. And youthful rebellion aside, I really actually like a good piece of fried fish.

So we started making the rounds in Sangamon County. We learned the subtleties of each venue, so by now when we crave “Catholic fish,” it’s a very specific craving as to WHOSE Catholic fish we are craving. Knights of Columbus #4179 on Lake Springfield has the Cajun flavor. Holy Cross Parish in Auburn has fried AND baked fish as well as shrimp, and is all-you-can-eat with fast lines.

One of my favorites now, though, is the Little Flower Men’s Club fish fry in Springfield. These folks have been serving up 800 pounds of fish every Friday in Lent for over 20 years now. They also have grilled cheese, mini cheese pizzas and corn dogs (meat is apparently still legal if you’re below a certain age) for the kids who don’t like fish. They also have ice cream and fresh-made mini donuts for dessert.

The main draw for me, however, is two words–TACO BAR! It’s such a simple thing, but it’s SO GOOD! They have tortillas, lettuce, cheese and salsa like you might expect. But they also have these three sauces that are out of this world. They have a Baja sauce, with flavors of onion, garlic and spicy jalapeno. They have a mild Lime Crema (on top in the picture above) and my favorite, the Cranberry Chipotle.

Chipotle, which is essentially a dried, smoked jalapeno, is one of my favorite flavors in the whole wide everything. It should have a strong smoke flavor and a bite that makes you sit up straight and say, “Oh!” One of my biggest pet peeves is when restaurants or other products use the C-word and don’t deliver on that flavor. This sauce has it.

I crave these Catholic fish tacos so hard that last year, we actually got in line on the first Friday in Lent 45 minutes before the doors opened. The tacos in the picture at the top of this post were the very first ones served that year.

Yes, they’re that good. Go getcha some!
Shop Takeya – Take `15% with code: GETFIT2019

Potato Chips

March 6, 2018October 9, 2021 - Scott Leave a comment

I can’t recall remember a time in my life when I didn’t like potato chips. The more unusual the flavor, the better. I can actually thank Frito-Lay for introducing me to previously untapped realms of flavor awesomeness with their Cajun Spice flavored Ruffles (sadly discontinued). Some of y’all are old enough to remember the commercial for those, with Justin Wilson, the Cookin’ Cajun saying, “They’re wondermous, I gar-on-tee!”

Up in Central Illinois, I had never heard anyone talk that way before, but I was intrigued by this character, so I sought out his “Louisiana Cookin Outdoors” show on PBS. My life has never been the same. Louisiana food is now among my very favorite cuisine. And it all started with a bag of chips!

i don’t get a lot of potato chips, because first of all, they’re no dang good for you. I’m at the age where the weight comes on a lot easier than it comes off, so I have to be careful about such things. As such, you will almost never see me eating plain potato chips. If I’m going to be rationing them out, I want them to be as interesting as possible.

So when I see a bag of chips that says, “a savory combination of sharp parmesan with subtle tones of smoked pancetta,” my curiosity is going to be piqued.

Deals on chips

Now in truth, these chips weren’t really that good. However, when you consider that they can be had at Aldi for only $1.79, I consider that a small price to pay for low-rent culinary experimentation.

I’m always on the lookout for new flavors of chips to try. My favorite that I’ve had recently are the Steak & Onion flavor from Meijer. Probably my all-time favorite are Krunchers Mesquite BBQ. Used to get those all the time in college when I could afford them. Otherwise, we had to settle for Kelly, the poor man’s kettle-cooked chip. That was a local product in Decatur, IL where I went to school. At least it was until the day the workers showed up and the doors were locked. Permanently. But that’s another story.

So what’s your all-time favorite potato chip? How about the most unusual flavor you’ve ever had? Enquiring stomachs want to know!

Happy Sushi

March 4, 2018 - Scott Leave a comment

Everybody’s got that one food (or maybe more than one) that they’re afraid to try. Maybe it looks wrong. Maybe it’s a texture thing. Or maybe it just flat-out sounds nasty. And then you try it and wonder why you waited so long. A lot of people are that way about sushi. I am one of them.

I imagine what turns people off about sushi is the whole “raw fish” thing. Understandable, but you might be surprised to learn that sushi isn’t primarily about the fish. It’s about the rice. Not only that, but “sushi” is an adjective, not a noun, describing the sour taste of the vinegared rice.

My daughter and I took a sushi-rolling class at Lincoln Land Community College. This was definitely an exercise in “Is there a picture of it in the cookbook? Bet it don’t look like that!” My only experience in rolled foods is pinwheel appetizers and burritos. Mostly burritos. You can’t stuff a California roll like a burrito. Otherwise, it will end up looking like this.

Fortunately, here in Springfield, IL, you don’t have to eat ugly, sad sushi like this, because we have Happy Sushi at the corner of 9th and South Grand. My favorite is the 10.10 (which is also what it costs). This is cream cheese, spicy crab and shrimp deep fried in tempura batter.

In addition to the 40 or so kinds of rolls on the menu, Happy Sushi also serves teriyaki, fried rice and udon noodle dishes. I have been told that Chef Hiro will even make a custom roll for you, if you tell him your favorite fish.

But hey, as delicious as Happy Sushi is, there’s one thing you won’t find on their menu. . .

dessert sushi — “Dessert” sushi made from Rice Krispie treat with Fruit Roll-up and gummi eyeball.

Gotta tell ya, those are a lot easier to roll.

So where’s your favorite place to get sushi? What’s your favorite roll?

Saint Martin (or was it Sint Maarten?)

March 2, 2018May 1, 2018 - Scott Leave a comment

So on our honeymoon, my wife and I went on a Caribbean cruise. It was my first time on a cruise ship. I became spoiled very quickly with the sunshine, the sound of the waves from our balcony and being able to see places you can’t drive to. And cruise ship food is legendary. It’s everywhere, all the time, and frequently awesome. Plus, most of it is included in the price of your ticket, so you don’t have to get nervous at the dining table when you see things on the menu that you wouldn’t eat at home because they’re too expensive. Lobster tail or filet mignon? Have both. You’re on vacation!

Long story short, we decided that if our finances allowed, we would try to do a cruise every five years. So when the five-year mark rolled around, we made good on that and boarded the Carnival Miracle in Ft. Lauderdale. I could do a whole series of posts just on cruise ship food (and I probably will at some point), but today, I want to talk about our first stop on this particular voyage, a tiny little island called Saint Martin/Sint Maarten.

Why does it have two names? Because it’s actually two countries on one island that measures a scant 34 square miles, which is about half the size of the city of Springfield, Illinois. The southern part of the island is Sint Maarten, part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The northern part is Collectivité de Saint-Martin, an overseas collectivity of France. St. Martin/Sint Maarten is known for many things, but we’re here to talk about the food.

Oh, that food. . .

Basically, I would have to make many more trips to explore ALL the food options on this island, particularly on the French side, but here’s what I experienced in our day there. We disembarked at the Great Bay in Philipsburg, the capital of the Dutch side.

Downtown Philipsburg is easily walkable, and our wanderings brought us to the Guavaberry Emporium.

Guavaberry is the national liqeur of St. Martin/Sint Maarten. It is made from rum, cane sugar and the rare wild guavaberries that grow in the center of the island. On Front Street is a shop that sells rums and liqueurs. . .and hot sauces.

You have my attention, Guavaberry Emporium.

Of all the comestibles that I consider myself a connoisseur of, hot sauce probably tops the list. So whenever in my wanderings I come across a place that has samples, it’s, “Honey, you go browse. If you need me, I’ll be over here hurting myself.”

The Guavaberry Emporium has 11 different sauces and spices for sale. I tried most of them, but one was a cut above. It is known as Liquid Fire, and is billed as “not for children or normal adults.” In about a 4-second span it is sweet, then fruity, then intensely hot. Notice the sweatball on my forehead. That’s not just from the tropical weather.

Whew, I think I need a break before lunch, but I AM getting hungry!

(Come back next week for Part 2: The French Side)

Donuts

February 28, 2018July 6, 2018 - Scott Leave a comment

My wife, Diana, loves donuts. Any kind of donut. Take some dough and fry it, and she’s there.
I liked them a lot more when I was younger and fried food didn’t bother me so much, but I can still go for a donut every now and then. When I was growing up in Mattoon, IL, the place to go was Mister Donut. I was (and am) particularly a fan of almost any kind of filled donut, but Mister Donut Bavarian Creams were always my favorite as a kid.

Today, only one Mister Donut remains in North America. Fortunately, it’s within 90 minutes of my house, in Godfrey, IL, near Alton. It’s as good as I remember it, plus they have a Strawberry Angel to go with the Chocolate and Vanilla that I grew up with. The Angels have more of a whipped cream filling, as opposed to a custard.

Though my wife prefers raised dough, I am also a fan of cake donuts. Regular, chocolate, iced or plain, I love them all. A particularly yummy local treat is the Apple Cider donuts from the Apple Barn in Chatham, IL. If you’re in the neighborhood, go get you a dozen of those. You’ll thank me later.

Donuts on road trips are a family tradition of ours as well. From the bag of chocolate iced donuts we keep in the car for the trip (affectionately referred to by my family as “plastic donuts”) to Krispy Kreme sightings, it seems we are always on the lookout for a good donut. I think it’s no accident that my wife was born on National Donut Day (June 7). Since we are frequently on vacation around her birthday, we are always on the lookout for birthday donuts.

Last summer, Diana and I vacationed in Estes Park, Colorado. For those of you that know, Estes Park has the busiest Safeway store in America. This store sits in the shadow of the Stanley Hotel, which was already famous, but made even more so by the fact that it was where a young Stephen King stayed when he was inspired to write The Shining. (I was a bit surprised to see that the hotel is up on a hill right in the middle of town, since the movie leads you to believe it’s isolated.)
Safeway is not afraid to get outside the box (see what i did there?) with its donut flavors. A couple to note are the Fruity Pebble and, my personal favorite, maple bacon. Yes, that’s an entire strip of bacon on that longjohn.

What are some of your favorite donut memories? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on any of the yums to come here at Low-Rent Foodie!