Catholics and Fish Sandwiches

Okay, all you Catholics out there. I have some advice for you - and also some trivia.

First, do not forget that today is Ash Wednesday. Second, the new Arby's fish sandwich is good. I tried one last week in preparation for Lent and it is much better than McDonald's. You might want to keep this in mind. As for the McDonald's fish sandwich, you can thank Catholics for it.

At one time there was a single McDonald's restaurant in Cincinnati. This was prior to the Second Vatican Council when Catholics ate fish 52 Fridays per year. The franchisee contacted Ray Kroc and said it was costing him money to turn on the lights on Fridays. He wanted to add fish sandwiches to his menu because 87 percent of his customers were Catholic.

Kroc said to fry a ring of pineapple and toss a slice of cheese on it. The franchisee suggested that they try both sandwiches and see which one was most popular. Needless to say the fish sandwich won, but Kroc said that at 30 cents it was too expensive and the cost could not be over 25 cents. So the franchisee bought cheaper fish and added cheese for flavor.

That his how the McDonald's filet of fish sandwich came to be. Today 40 percent of all McDonald's fish sandwiches are sold during Lent.