On Good Friday, it’s traditional for people of a Christian background to eat fish, rather than meat. So, with 68% of the country identifying with Christianity on the census, naturally last night it was pretty damn crowded in the fish’n’chip shop. A 40 minute wait, in fact, even with about ten people working behind the counter. I’m glad we rang ahead.
(No I’m not Christian, but I’ll happily latch onto any tradition that involves fish’n’chips at the end of the week when I don’t feel like cooking. Likewise chocolate eggs.)
Mind you, there was a pretty long queue at Olympic Doughnuts today, too. Is eating jam doughnuts a tradition for Easter Saturday?
8 replies on “Fish on Good Friday”
Umm, is it Christian tradition to eat fish on Good Friday or Catholic? I always thought it was just the Catholics, but maybe I’m wrong!!
According to the all-knowing Wikipedia it was Catholics traditionally, but other Christian denominations have followed.
One of my few habits of residual Catholicism is not eating meat on Good Friday. But this year I cheated and had a chicken skewer as well as the fish (I don’t much like fish).
It used to be -every- friday and still is for some more old fashioned Catholics.
I was very very norty this Good Friday… I cooked myself a beautifully-juice huge T-bone steak! I’m obviously not very catholic in my eating habits these days… oooh, woe is me! heh heh
Cyalayta
Mal :)
I wasn’t raised by religious parents but we never ate meat on Good Friday; had fish & chips while watching the Good Friday Appeal on TV. I think my mum just likes a good old family tradition! But, no it’s not just the Catholics, nor was it ever just them; the Anglicans have also had that tradition for a long time.
Not sure what the symbolism of a jam doughnut is when the chocolate egg represents the empty tomb..?
I’ll raise you 40-min wait with a 45-minute one. Thankfully, the magazine stand at the 7-11 occupied me while the man ordered, and then we strolled the 5 minutes to his house to wait out the next 40 mins… Still, nothing like fish on Good Friday – a family tradition that has the addition now each year of “Thank goodness I don’t work at the fish & chip shop anymore!” (My first job was as a kitchen hand at East Warrnambool Fish & Chip Shop!)
Ah the ole “Lets have a bbq on Good Friday cos we can” bbq was on again this year. Not bad, we have been having this tradition for over 25 years (since my friends and I were 15!!) and there have been 2 of us faithfully keeping the tradition going all these years. We only missed once and that was the year Port Power started in the AFL and hubby and I went to Melb for their first game. Ah traditions …
The reason there was a queue at the doughnut place is probably because nothing else was open. I was in Lara and the bottle shop was open and the line of cars was ten cars long. Welcome to Steve Bracks Victoria,