A Perfect Blend of Ingredients

Food doesn’t get much more Hispanic than salsa and Spanish rice. Fried fish, on the other hand, is arguably as Anglo as a food can get because of its popularity in England as half of the famous fish and chips combo.

Yet St. John the Evangelist cooks think this may be just about the perfect blend of ingredients.

For the past few years, the Hopkins Catholic church has mixed Lenten tradition with Hispanic food. Deacon Juan Duran—who spent 20 years as a cook in New York before coming to Minnesota eight years ago—combines hot sauce and traditional spices for a fish fry that’s just a little bit different.

Duran’s goal for the fish fry is to bring the Spanish- and English-speaking congregations together in the same way that he unites disparate ingredients in his mixing bowls.

“We try to combine the Spanish and Anglo, two things, together,” Duran said. “(It works out) very wonderful. People, they come—our community, English-speaking community—they come together.”

Each Friday during Lent, he and his crew start working at noon so that they can everything ready by dinner time. They use 60 pounds of pollack, four giant bowls of batter, five to six eight-pound bags of tater tots and dozens of pounds of vegetables.

“We do everything fresh. There’s no cans at all,” he said. “Almonds, we toasted here. We do the vegetables, and after that we do fresh garlic and olive oil.”

By the time the crowd starts streaming in at 5:30 p.m., savory scents fill the church. Parishioners spoon made-from-scratch tartar sauce and a bit of salsa onto their plates and then sit down for a meal together.

“It’s not easy to put two communities (together), but we do,” Duran said.

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If you go …

• When: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. through April 15
• Where: St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 6 Interlachen Road
• Price: $10 for adults, $5 for children, or $25 for a family