Mike Pound: If it’s Lent, it’s time for the Famous Fish Fry

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February 24, 2009

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Tue Feb 24, 2009, 06:24 PM CST

By Mike Pound

Globe columnist

mpound@joplinglobe.com

Like all Catholics, the folks at St. Bridget’s in Scammon, Kan., are supposed to abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent.

So, what they do is get together on Fridays during Lent and fry up a mess of catfish, cod and shrimp.

Talk about taking lemons and making lemonade.

The Famous Fish Fry in Scammon, served in the St. Bridget’s Parish Hall, got its name from the late, great KKOW radio personality Dan Willis. The story is that the first time Dan attended the dinner, he walked up and said, “I’m here for the famous fish fry.” The name stuck.

The dinner has become somewhat of a local culinary sensation over the years, attracting folks — Catholic and non-Catholic — from all over the area. Tom LaTurner has been frying up the catfish for the event for eight years. He said the Famous Fish Fry continues to grow year after year.

“Over the years, it’s gotten bigger and bigger, and I’m pretty proud to be a part of it, to be truthful with you,” Tom said.

He told me that the fish fry works, in part, because of the people who put it together. Tom said he and Chip Heronbrook fry up the catfish, Ross Grasso takes care of the shrimp, and Chris Martin fries the cod. Other folks whip up the German and creamy coleslaw, and still others make sure the baked potatoes and wild rice are ready to be served. And several Scammon cooks work on the cornbread, and make sure the clam chowder and the other sides are worthy of being served at the fish fry.

That’s an important thing, by the way. In Scammon, there is a certain amount of pressure whenever someone serves up food for general consumption. See, food is a pretty big deal in the Scammon area. Folks in the Scammon area take their food seriously, and many have definite opinions on, say, how sweet a red sauce should be, or how much garlic goes into an Italian chicken recipe, or how to stuff a toasted ravioli.

I may have made this up, but I think using a spaghetti sauce out of a jar in Scammon will cost you 30 days in jail.

Folks like food their in Scammon, is what I’m saying.

What that means is folks can be assured that the food served up at the St. Bridget’s Famous Fish Fry is good. Well, that’s not true. The food served up at the St. Bridget’s Famous Fish Fry isn’t just good. It’s GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.

The first Famous Fish Fry of this Lenten season gets under way at 6 p.m. Friday. Three dinners are offered. The first — called the basic dinner — gets you either a helping of cod or catfish, a baked potato or wild rice, and German or creamy-style coleslaw. The cost is $8 for the cod basic dinner and $8.50 for the catfish basic dinner.

The shrimp platter will cost you $9, and comes with five shrimp, your choice of a baked potato or wild rice, and either German or creamy coleslaw. And for $10, you can order up the St. Elmo’s Platter, which comes with catfish, cod, shrimp, clam chowder and your choice of sides. You also can get a grilled cheese sandwich for $2 or a bowl of clam chowder for $3.

Tom said that although putting on the annual fish fry takes a lot of work, it’s a fun sort of work. The fact that so many folks pitch in to make the fish fry a success makes things easier, he said. Tom’s wife, Shelly, and Cecil Flood order the food for the fry, while an army of folks helps with the assorted side dishes, the setup and the cleanup.

“If I started listing the names of the people who help, I could talk all day,” Tom said.

One guy who probably has been working the fish fry as long as anyone, Tom said, is 96-year-old John Ross. John, Tom said, batters up the fish before it’s fried. Oh, about that fish batter: Shelly whips that together. Up until now, Tom said, the batter has been sort of a Shelly secret.

“But this year, we’re going to get her to measure it out in case something happens to her,” Tom said.

I’m not sure how Shelly should take that.

One name that always comes up whenever I talk to anyone about food and St. Bridget’s is Sally Saparito, the owner and operator of Josie’s Ristorante in Scammon. It seems that Sally is always doing something to help out, and Tom wanted to be sure he mentioned Sally for this column.

“Sally works very hard for the church,” Tom said. “She’s a wonderful woman.”

I told Tom he was right.

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