NEW ORLEANS — In Southeast Louisiana, 36 percent of the population is Catholic.
So, on Fridays during Lent, that means there are a lot of people eating seafood.
And to keep up with the demand, one local church orders 450 pounds of fish to fry each Lent.
“Oh, I think I caught up with the line. Just keep frying. Is it me? Am I having a personal hot flash, or is it hot in here?” asks Barbara Hornsby, the volunteer coordinator of the St. Gabriel Fish Fry.
Hornsby is an accountant, but on the Friday's during Lent, she is working at her church in Gentilly.
“I need a fried, fried traditional,” Hornsby calls out to the kitchen volunteers. “So, this is part of our mission, and we used part of these funds for the Harry Thompson center, a spring blessing bag, and a fall blessing bag, and we can give them toiletries, socks, underwear, t-shirts, things we take for granted.”
Roy White is a retired chef who has taught the group of volunteers how to make great dishes in one of the most efficiently run kitchen lines around.
“It's a team effort. Most of us have been doing this for the last 10 years plus,” said White.
Why does he do it?
“Well, act of love. It's my profession, and giving back, that's the most important thing,” explained White.
And if you're wondering just how big the fish fry is at St. Gabriel the Archangel, last year they took in $50,000. That was a net of $36,000, and as many as 900 plates were served.
And that's 900 plates in a day.
The "fishes and loaves" team effort goes on every Friday of Lent, except Good Friday. And the hungry customers come from all over the city, Kenner, the West Bank, and, yes, a family from Mobile.
“So, we're going to the Audubon Zoo today, and so, we, you know it's Friday, so, we had to find a good fish place,” said one of the young sons.
And there’s another customer from the Bahamas, who got married years ago at St. Gabriel, and is back for her mom's 90th birthday.
“I remember after Hurricane Katrina, it was destroyed so badly. We were all concerned about what would happen, but it was rebuilt,” she said.
Her 90-year-old mother goes every other Friday during Lent to get a meal.
“The fried fish, potato salad, everything, everything. It's very delicious,” the mother said.
Hornsby added, “Twelve dollars, you can't beat that. You can't beat that. You can not beat that at all.”
The kitchen serves from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. We have a link to the nearly 60 fish fries going on around the entire metro area here.
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