Town
of Grifton 528 Queen Street
P.O. Box 579
Grifton, NC 28530
(252) 524-5168
Grifton Shad Festival Fish Stew
This is
the recipe used in the annual Grifton Shad Festival Fish Stew
each April. Any kind of fish can be used, but Rock and Catfish
are less bony than Shad and more plentiful in April. (The peak
of the shad fishing season in Grifton is March.) Shad makes
extremely tasty stew, but many people do not like to pick out so
many bones.
Stew can
be cooked inside in an ordinary pot, or outdoors in an iron pot
over a gas burner. It's good either way. When cooked outside,
men are usually the cooks.
Ingredients are seldom measured, and seasonings are added
according to taste. More or less of each ingredient can be used.
1/2
lb. fatback or slab bacon
5
lbs. white potatoes (sliced)
5
lbs. onions (sliced)
4
lbs. rockfish, striped bass, puppy drum, catfish, shad or
any firm fish, cut in 2‑inch pieces crossways through the
backbone
salt
& pepper to taste
1/2
teaspoon crushed red pepper
1
can tomato soup
1
dozen eggs water
Put
fatback or bacon in bottom of pot and fry. Leave grease in pot
and remove fried meat. (Optional: Leave fried meat in pot.) Add
other ingredients, layering them beginning with onions, then
potatoes, then fish, etc.
Sprinkle with
salt and pepper as you add ingredients to pot. Add water to
cover. When stew comes to a boil, turn heat down to medium and
cook about 1‑1 /2 hours. Do not stir, as this will break fish
into small pieces. Do shake the pot from time to time to keep
stew from sticking to bottom. About 20 minutes before stew is
done, add 1 can tomato soup and break eggs into the stew. Allow
eggs to cook in the liquid until yolks are hard‑boiled. Plan
about one egg per or more eggs, as this is very popular and a
distinguishing ingredient of Eastern North Carolina Fish Stew.
Add more red pepper if you like it hotter in flavor. Serve with
hushpuppies, bread, and slaw. This will feed 10‑15 people.
Recipe
contributed by Peggy Brown. The Shad Festival Fish Stew is
prepared by the Grifton Lions Club. Stop at the "Shad Shack"
Souvenir Center for postcards of this and other Shad Festival
recipes.
Sprinkle with
salt and pepper as you add ingredients to pot. Add water to
cover. When stew comes to a boil, turn heat down to medium and
cook about 1‑1 /2 hours. Do not stir, as this will break fish
into small pieces. Do shake the pot from time to time to keep
stew from sticking to bottom. About 20 minutes before stew is
done, add 1 can tomato soup and break eggs into the stew. Allow
eggs to cook in the liquid until yolks are hard‑boiled. Plan
about one egg per or more eggs, as this is very popular and a
distinguishing ingredient of Eastern North Carolina Fish Stew.
Add more red pepper if you like it hotter in flavor. Serve with
hushpuppies, bread, and slaw. This will feed 10‑15 people.
