In the cookbook The Shrimp Mousse and Other Waffle Shop Recipes, there’s a cartoon fish, with a fabulous moue, saying, “Yep … It’s tuna salad” to an incredulous-faced chicken, who answers, wings on hips, “Well I nevah!” The joke, you see, is that Calvary Episcopal Church’s annual Lenten Waffle Shop has never served tuna salad. Nevah!
But you knew that, right? The Waffle Shop has been around since 1928, and much of the menu remains the same. The guest’s plate — a scoop of yellow, a triangle of red, and a carpet of green — is familiar to those sacrificing Lent-ers (and to those others who never give up a thing but take advantage of the shop nonetheless).
Most infamous of all the Waffle Shop offerings is the Friday special: fish pudding, a gratin-y casserole of fish, eggs, butter, cracker crumbs, and other ingredients. Then there’s the brilliant-red tomato aspic and the very pretty orange, cayenne-spiked mayonnaise. And, oh yes, there are waffles as well. They’re a bit plain-Jane next to all the retro array, but I, for one, have never heard anyone say they didn’t like waffles. Nevah!
The Waffle Shop at Calvary Episcopal Church, 102 N. Second. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. through April 15th. The Lenten Preaching Series is from 12:05 to 12:40 p.m. For the Preaching Series schedule and the Waffle Shop menu, go to calvarymemphis.org.
