History Of The Wisconsin And Milwaukee Fish Fry

Yes, thanks to the German, Polish and Italian immigration to Milwaukee that brought with them their Catholic beliefs, Life Lessons From SpongeBob Squarepants religion has a part in the tradition.The Germans brought beer makers from the old country who found a great water source (and ice source for shipping) and a growing grain center in the US to provide an ideal location to brew beer. Lent which starts on Ash Wednesday and run the forty days before Easter (not counting Sundays) and is meant to be a time of reflection and doing without. Originally it was a time of fast but since forty days is a little long for most people to observe going without food, it was cut back to not eating meat on Fridays. Fish turned out to be a perfect alternative. During Lent, many restaurants and some churches and bars also offer a fish fry on Wednesdays as well stemming from Ash Wednesday. This lets people have another day to enjoy fish and not have to brave such long lines that are typical at most restaurants and churches.The most popular choices of fish are perch, walleye, and cod although there are many other choices offered as well now. You can get your fish seasoned, dipped in flour and a pan fried deep fried. You can also opt for a thicker beer batter made flour, eggs and beer and then deep fried. Although much of the fish frys today are deep fried, deep frying really didn't start until the 50's when commercial deep fryers where invented and made it possible for small bars and restaurants could offer deep fried fish. Until then most of the fish was pan fried. This was not only was a popular form to enjoy fish, it also was a great way to be able to cook the fish in larger batches and be able to serve more hungry diners.

Milwaukeeans probably don't know who Louis Hirschinger is but they owe him a big thanks for bringing the other half of the tradition to Milwaukee- the all-you-can-eat fish fry. Louis who along with his wife Ruth owned Tanner Paull restaurant in West Allis, and after visiting a small restaurant on the east coast during business trip discovered an all you can eat chicken dinner. He was fascinated with the idea and thought he would try the same thing at his restaurant in Milwaukee only with fish. It was a huge hit and cemented the all-you-can-eat fish fry as one of Milwaukee's favorite traditions.The Milwaukee fish fry has its roots in both religion and beer brewing brought by the German immigrants. Along with their beer, their food traditions helped shape what has become the other part of tradition. Accompanying the fish in a traditional German fish fry are potato pancakes, apple sauce, coleslaw, rye bread and tartar sauce. These are still found at many restaurants or at least are all side options but french fries have become the side that accompanies most fish frys now in so many bars, taverns and pubs.Everywhere you go in Wisconsin you will be able to find a fish fry of some kind or another. If you are visiting Milwaukee or Wisconsin for the first time, you really need to join the local tradition and try one.