GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) -- If you take a step into a restaurant in this area on a Friday, more often than not, a fish fry will be on the menu. With lent now underway, people in the business say the demand for fish is now more than ever.
Blue Harbor Fish and Seafood in Green Bay is a wholesaler. They sell fish to restaurants. They’ve been getting ready for the increase in demand since the middle of November. But this year, one local favorite could be hard to find.
"Well we put away a lot of perch, but it's not going to be enough, and we will be out of perch quick, but we will probably get some in every week, a little bit but not enough to supply people, we lean more heavily toward walleye and cod this year," said Mike Parkinson.
Even with that in mind, mike says the business does well during lent.
"We double in business, we actually double, especially the first part of lent, and the last part of lent is the big push," said Mike Parkinson.
Jimmy Seas restaurant in Green Bay has been getting ready for lent too, stocking up with their fish features.
"Obviously with lent, there's religious aspects to it, they want to make sure they stay more towards the fish side, so we definitely compensate for that. Our freezers are stocked up to the gills with fish, we know it's a busy time of year and it's one of our busier times of the year too," said Dan Potts.
Fish fries are a tradition in Wisconsin. Every Friday year round, there's somewhere offering one. So what makes them so special?
"Oh man...Well, let me tell you, first of all, we hand batter our own cod, most of the time, or perch or whatever kind of fish you're really into and then it is always served with cold slaw, tartar sauce and lemon wedge, and rye bread. It's just a weird Wisconsin thing. I know they do it up north where my wife is from. So it's kind of a big deal around Wisconsin, if you haven't had it, you should," said Dan Potts.
Some of the other popular items on the menu include fish tacos.
Cod loins are deep fried for a few minutes. Once done, they put into warm tortilla shells, garnished with their homemade sauce, cabbage, cheese, pico-de gallo, and freshly cut cilantro.
Or perhaps you're feeling tuna tonight?
Their ahi tuna salad comes with spring greens, avocado, tomatoes, and onions. The tuna is quickly seared on each side, seasoned with Cajun spices. Then, the tuna gets sliced into several pieces. To top it off, sliced almonds.
A Friday night fish fry with a lot of choices.
