Fish Fry Friday Feeds the Soul with Ron Faiola
Batter up! You don’t have to be from the Midwest to feel like a part of the community we’re talking about in this week’s podcast episode—that’s because our beloved Friday night fish fry welcomes people from around the world to sit across the table with each other at parish schools and fellowship halls, to supper clubs, taverns, and community centers to enjoy golden-fried or lightly baked fish alongside classic sides like coleslaw and potatoes.
Who better to talk with me about this Lenten tradition than Ron Faiola? He’s a filmmaker, director, and author who, in addition to his movies and books about Wisconsin supper clubs, has produced two movies about fish frys in Wisconsin. All four of his films were licensed and broadcast on PBS for several years.
Ron publishes the website, Wisconsin Supper Clubs (wisconsinsupperclubs.com) where he shares, and keeps updated, a comprehensive list of supper clubs broken into five regions in Wisconsin. Click here for a direct link to the Clubs List.
Listen to S2 E17 of Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens in your favorite podcast app—it’s available on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Audible | Amazon Music | Pandora | iHeart |TuneIn | PodBean | Pocket Casts.
We’re covering everything from which side of Wisconsin serves rye bread at their fish frys, and how to know if you’re getting real lake perch, to how to find a fish fry in your community and why you want to skip the fork and eat fish with your fingers.
Find Ron Faiola
Website: wisconsinsupperclubs.com
Movies: “Fish Fry Night Milwaukee”, “Wisconsin Supper Clubs – An Old Fashioned Experience”, “Tilt-A-Whirls, Cowbells and Beer”, and “We’re Here for a Fish Fry!”.
Facebook: Wisconsin Supper Clubs
Instagram: @wisconsin_supper_clubs
It’s Lent. Do You Know Where Your Fish Fry Is? (Atlas Obscura article with Ron Faiola)
Books
Wisconsin Supper Clubs—Second Edition (2023)
The Wisconsin Supper Clubs Story, An Illustrated History With Relish (2021)
Wisconsin Supper Clubs: Another Round (2016)
Wisconsin Supper Clubs, An Old Fashioned Experience (2013)
Just in case you can’t get to a fish fry, here’s my go-to tuna salad sandwich recipe.
Ron said he’d come back and do a supper club episode in time for summer road trips so be sure to subscribe to Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens so you don’t miss a thing. He’ll also be out and about on a book tour this year.
Sweet wishes,
