Fish fry dinners live on during the pandemic

On a balmy Friday night members of the Most Blessed Sacrament Church in Baton Rouge’s Men’s Club bantered as they lifted up deep fryer baskets dripping with sizzling golden oil that contained the “soul food” of Lent. 

They packaged dinners with assembly line efficiency and loaded them  on a cart and wheeled them to a long line of cars filled with fish fry dinner fans. 

In the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Lenten dinners are a favorite way to have a night out from the kitchen while supporting lay organizations that carry out the ministry of the church.

On a typical Friday night at MBS, the Men’s Club cooks up 330 pounds of fish, 450 pounds of french fries, 1,500 hushpuppies and hundreds of crawfish meat pies, according to Patrick Yarborough, the “food czar” of the fish dinners.

Yarborough, who has a Bachelor’s of Science Degree from LSU in Food Sciences and works for a Baton Rouge meat processing company, said food safety is a priority, including keeping hot foods hot, the raw fish away from the cooked fish and abiding by all of the COVID-19 safety protocols.

“Because of COVID, we wanted to simplify the cooking, so we limited the number of people working,” said Yarborough.

The blessings and the challenges of the fish fry tradition is that so many men are eager to volunteer their time, but COVID-19 safety restrictions make them unable to accommodate all of them. For fish fry dinners of years past, there would be about 50 volunteers, but this year it is limited to  25-30 volunteers.

Before COVID, the men could sit down and eat with their families during a break, but this year they are not able to do so. Now they might take fish dinners home to their family or wave and say, “See you guys later” and leave.

“I think the guys miss (being able to eat with their families),” said Yarborough.

Adapting to the times, some families will drive through just to see dad working.

But there’s still the abundance of fun and camaraderie of “guys just hanging out” as music flowed and dinners were wheeled out to a long line of awaiting “customers.”

For Yarborough that is part of what got him to volunteer and be part of the Men’s Club for the past 10 years.

Yarborough and his wife Blair, have two children, Clayton, a sophomore at St. Michael the Archangel High School in Baton Rouge and Clara, a seventh grader at Most Blessed Sacrament School.

“I wanted to get involved (with the parish and school),” said Yarborough, who served as president of the Men’s Club for four years. “I got involved, and I never looked back.”

He noted that some of the men have children who have “come and gone” through Most Blessed Sacrament School and enjoyed it so much they continue to serve.

“I absolutely see myself doing that. I still plan to have fun,” said Yarborough.

Other club members agreed.

This is the first year for Christian Jacomine, who has been part of the men’s club for three years, to participate in the fish fry dinners. He and his wife, Mia, have two children, Gianna, 5, who is in kindergarten at MBS, and Luca, 3, who is in the MBS Early Learning Center. 

Mia is a member of the Catholic Daughters of America at MBS, and some of the other members’ husbands were part of the Men’s Club, so he joined the club. He finds the volunteering at the dinners “easy going” and shares the results of the club’s labors with his wife and children.

“I’ve been instructed to bring some fish, french fries and crawfish pie home,” smiled Jacomine.

Lined up in the dinner pickup point in the MBS carpool line that was much longer than the morning carpool line were hungry fish fry fans.

“These guys are phenomenal, they rock,” said Lorie Verbois. “I told my daughter (Madeline) this when we pulled up. These guys are a bunch of fun.”

Verbois said she is an “honorary member of the Men’s Club” because they took her under their wing as she helped them at the food court at past MBS parish fairs. 

“They work so hard and always help the church. They go above and beyond,” said Verbois.

Baton Rouge restaurant owner Andy McKay said the men are “pretty efficient” in assembling the dinners and keep the atmosphere “light.”

“It’s a great group of guys. I get to hang out with them and get in some fun times,” said McKay.

Steven Thompson, who “jumped in the club 10-12 years ago and is 100% in it,” said. “We talk about life,” indicating there’s real life happening as well on the food line.

MBS pastor Father Phil Spano mingled with the men as “the unofficial food taster” and greeted people coming to pick up their dinners. He noted the Men’s Club hosts three to four dinners per year with proceeds to help the poor and those living in difficult situations. 

Along with other such organizations as the Knights of Columbus and Catholic Daughters of the Americans, Father Spano said MBS has a good lay ministry base committed to service.

“We often call on (our lay organizations) if we need people to help us,” said Father Spano.