In the upper Midwest, at least in Wisconsin, Friday means fish fry. I'm fairly sure that the tradition dates back to the old Catholic Church prohibition against eating meat on Friday. In the old days there were mom-and-pop fish markets everywhere, and housewives could be seen coming and going Friday morning with their meticulously selected fish in their shopping bags. Whitefish and perch were the most popular. Grouper and halibut were thought to be more favorable but were too expensive for the average household. But to do the tradition right, to actually celebrate Fish Fry Friday, and it was a mini-celebration of sorts, you had to do it in a tavern.
Many taverns offered fish on Friday and because there were so many taverns the customers were usually locals and knew each other, so it became a social event, like a club meeting every Friday. Swinko's was a corner tavern located directly across the street from our house on Milwaukee's south side. I distinctly remember customers including my father proudly proclaiming that "nobody served better fish or beer and at a fairer price than Tony Swinko". The preferred place to eat your fish was at the bar for ease of conversation purposes, but we always went as a family and state law prohibited kids from sitting at the bar (I was 10, my sister 6) so we ate at a table but were still able to be included in conversations. That was a long time ago. The last time I was in that neighborhood was over ten years ago, and it will be my last visit. Swinko's is now a dilapidated apartment complex, Lindner's grocery store on the corner across from Swinko's is a private house and the entire neighborhood is a Hispanic barrio in badly deteriorating condition.
Here in North West Georgia there is a pseudo Fish Fry Friday. There are no taverns. Most restaurants offer fish and some as a Friday special. One issue I have is that many restaurants serve only catfish. We like catfish but don't prefer it. Often it has a musky, muddy taste to it. Our preference is cod or halibut but they're hard to find. There are a few sport's bars but I don't know if they offer fish, and they're a far cry from the neighborhood tavern I'm talking about, as pictured above. Seems like these days everybody's into Wings with a plethora of sauces ranging from mild to scorch your larynx.
Maribel and I will be going out for fish later this afternoon. What prompted this post is that in the shower this morning I asked myself, "Why?...why are we going out for fish?" I asked Maribel that question and she answered that part of the reason is to mark the end of the week (though weekends are really meaningless for us as every day is the same), and because she didn't have to cook. We both agreed that none of the restaurants we're familiar with have a unique or particularly pleasing ambience. And some of the restaurants have better fish than others, but none are better than the fish Maribel cooks at home. Mostly what's going to be missing today is the social experience. When we go to a restaurant with friends it's a whole different ballgame. There's conversation, there's life, and the establishment itself seems to take on a more lively, friendly, interactive atmosphere. It's not a neighborhood tavern, and you don't know anybody other than the people you're with, but it does sorta kinda bring back memories of the Fish Fry Friday 'Swinko's Tavern' experience.
I know that I can't go back to those days, and I don't know for sure that Milwaukee taverns still serve fish fry's. In fact I'm not even sure that corner taverns exists anymore. I hope so. I'd hate to think that the Swinko's era has passed.
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