Fish for Good Friday Many people enjoy seafood as a traditional food item for the holiday
Easter brings with it many traditions. Two of the most common traditions include rows of Easter chocolate lining the shelves of grocery stores and family photos with the local mall Easter Bunny.
However, one holiday tradition is more of a Good Friday tradition. It is the Good Friday feed of fish and chips whose origins has been an Easter tradition dating back centuries, where on the Friday before Easter, fish, which is considered a “nonmeat” food item, is allowed to Christians who observe and honour Jesus’s crucifixion sacrifice.
And for individuals in the fish business, it is not only their most financially lucrative time of the year — it is also their busiest as followers of Christ and non-followers treat themselves to a feast of fish.
“Folks don’t have to be Catholic or Christian, it seems to like fish on Good Friday,” says Bernadette Robicheau from West Chezzetcook, N.S. “Eating fish on Good Friday is a tradition for most Nova Scotians.”
Robicheau is also known as “The Fish Lady” and she began her fish business in the fall of 2019.
At the start of her business, she sold primarily haddock and scallops, taking orders and delivering them in the evening after working her day job.
Robicheau did this for about a month, then she started selling fish items out of the back of her truck.
“Customers would pre-order then they would meet me at one of the two locations I operate from to pick up their seafood. Then COVID hit, and we could not sell for several months.” Robicheau says.
But within 10 months of her initial startup, she took the chance and purchased a trailer to sell from. Now her business carries over two dozen different fish and seafood products and services six locations: Musquodoboit Harbour, Porter’s Lake, Cole Harbour, Dartmouth, Sackville and Brookfield.
And not surprisingly, Good Friday is Robicheau’s busiest time of year.
In preparation for the week leading up to the holiday, Robicheau will stock her business with a variety of seafood for the customers’ tastes. Her items include fresh halibut steaks, fresh halibut cheeks, Newfoundland and Labrador mussels, sockeye salmon, fresh Atlantic salmon, fresh Digby scallops, fresh cod, fish cakes, smoked peppered mackerel, smoked haddock, smoked cod, Atlantic shrimp, jumbo shrimp, chowder mix, Lobster meat, yellowfin tuna, salt cod bits, lobster dip, shrimp dip and Solomon Gundy.
But her most popular item for Good Friday is the haddock fillets which she sells five pounds per bag.
“I think folks like to cook their own seafood rather than ordering from a restaurant,” says Robicheau. “They are always sharing their recipes with me or asking me how I cook my seafood. I share my cooking recipes on Facebook and then they share theirs — we share lots of great ideas!”
Robicheau says her customers mostly ask how she prepares her chowder and how she prepares her fish to pan fry it. She says those seem to be the most popular choices for Good Friday.
Tradition aside, some people may wonder why fish is such an appealing meal to prepare and serve. Robicheau insists it is because fish is not only of the most flavourful food items around, but fish also offers many nutritional benefits.
“Fish is an excellent source of protein,” explains Robicheau. “It is extremely low in calories, and quite easy to digest, plus it contains many omega-3 fatty acids. I tell kids when they are with their parents and grandparents that fish is the ultimate brain food and will make them smart.”
So, while many tables in West Chezzetcook will be serving Robicheau’s purchased seafood in many different prepared ways and flavours this Good Friday, she says she is going to prepare hers the way she enjoys best.
“My favourite way to prepare fish is pan-fried haddock but seared scallops and baked salmon are a close second.”
TRYING FISH AND CHIPS FOR THE FIRST TIME
Deepti S Mhaske is originally from Mumbai, India, ad moved to Canada in 2021. She first landed in Toronto and in September 2022. She then moved to St. John’s. She is currently a master’s student at Memorial University pursuing employment relations and works with WRDC as a career practitioner.
Mhaske experienced her first taste of fish and chips in Bell Island shortly arriving in Newfoundland and Labrador.
“My first impression trying fish and chips was it was unsalted and had no spices,” she remembers. “As I am from Mumbai ... It is again an island which means being surrounded by the sea. Hence, I have always loved fish. But the way we cook fish back home is way too different. We do not have batter as such, but we do have coatings.”
Mhaske says the way fish is prepared in Mumbai is wide-ranging with many different options.
“Once we wash the fish, we put salt, lemon, turmeric and our homemade Indian spice.”
From there, she says chefs will coat fish with either semolina or with jowar flour.
And being accustomed to how fish is seasoned and prepared from her home country did not prevent her from trying some of our well-established local fish businesses. In fact, she has since found a new local favourite.
“I like Ches’s Fish and Chips and the fish and chips at the Duke of Duckworth.” Mhaske divulges. And like so many others in Newfoundland and Labrador, Mhaske will also be enjoying a meal of local fish and chips on Good Friday.
“I actually have enjoyed quite a lot of fish and chips in the past year and a half since I moved here.”