Filmmaker serves up second fish-fry documentary
It’s hard to run out of fish fries, or fish-fry stories, in Wisconsin.
Eight years ago, Ron Faiola made “Fish Fry Night Milwaukee,” a fun documentary offering a taste of why the Friday night tradition is a staple of the city’s cultural diet.
Since then, the Greendale native has made something of a career documenting Wisconsin traditions, with PBSfriendly documentaries on church festivals (“Tilt-AWhirls, Cowbells and Beer”) and supper clubs (“Wisconsin Supper Clubs: An Old Fashioned Experience”), which also yielded two coffee-table books on the topic.
The common thread? A hint: It’s usually battered and deepfried.
Faiola’s latest movie takes a look at the fish fry tradition statewide. “We’re Here for a Fish Fry!” will have its premiere Thursday at Milwaukee’s Oriental Theatre.
The hour-long documentary has a little bit of everything across the fish-fry continuum, from heading out with a commercial fisherman to going into the kitchen at an American Legion post in Port Washington.
Much of the new movie focuses on fish-fry variations around the state, with haddock and whitefish turning up more often than they do in Milwaukee.
But the biggest difference, Faiola said, is the bread.
“Mike (Seidel, a blogger at MadisonFishFry.com who is featured in the documentary) made the point,” Faiola said, “You really only get rye bread in Milwaukee, and maybe Green Bay and north.
“In Madison,” he said, somewhat incredulously, “they give you a roll.”
One thing Faiola has seen less of at fish fries is fish.
“It used to be all-you-caneat, and (many places) don’t do that anymore,” he said. “It wasn’t a large shift. Prices are still reasonable for the fish.”
Given his druthers, Faiola prefers “a breaded fish fry, not battered. Normally, I get cod, but I’ve been eating more perch.”
Although fish fries are the kind of Wisconsin tradition that people don’t want messed with, experimenting is sometimes embraced.
Madison-based Ian’s Pizza serves a fish fry pizza on Fridays during Lent, and it’s just like it sounds: a base of cheese topped with bites of fried tilapia and crinkle-cut french fries, followed by tartar sauce and some coleslaw.
In the movie, Seidel says approvingly that it tastes just right. Faiola agreed.
“The ratio of everything is really thought out,” he said.
Seidel and Milwaukee Record fish-fry reviewer Caleb Westphal, who’s also in the movie, will join Faiola for a Q&A after Thursday’s screening of “We’re Here for a Fish Fry!” Bob Ruleau, the owner of the fishing boat in the movie, will also be on hand.
And there’ll be an after-party at Von Trier, 2235 N. Farwell Ave., where Faiola said Ian’s will serve up some of its fish fry pizza.
DVDs of the movie will be available both at the screening and the after-party for $20. The disc — also available at the movie’s website, fishfrymovie.com — includes two short documentaries on “more serious” related topics, including one on what you’re really eating at your local fish fry.
“I’ve experienced some places that say they’re serving cod, but … there is no way that was what I had,” Faiola said.
Following the Milwaukee screening and some appearances at film festivals, “We’re Here for the Fish Fry!” will air on Milwaukee PBS sometime in 2018, Faiola said.