Portland, Maine, native Hollis McLaughlin's recollection of his mother's fish cookery produces a wistful expression as he takes a bite of the fish cakes given to him as part of the regular Wednesday night meal he is served free of charge at the Parkside Neighborhood Center.
McLaughlin's mother, Kay, worked for over 30 years on Portland's waterfront, picking lobster and crab and packing sardines. And she made fish cakes, too, for her eight children from whatever white fish was available on any particular day.
But she certainly didn't use the Martha Stewart recipe that Carly Milkowski, resource coordinator at Wayside Food Services, a hunger relief operation, tapped as the basic formula for the 100 fish cakes served to the 30 or so clients last Wednesday at Parkside.
The 62-year-old McLaughlin diplomatically refused to say which fish cake he liked better. "But I'm having seconds of these now," he said, adding that he'd love to have more fish in general on his plate at any of the free meals he receives weekly around the city.
McLaughlin may soon get his wish, thanks to an innovative new partnership between Wayside and the Maine Chapter of Hunters for the Hungry, a national organization that matches up hunters who harvest more game than they can consume themselves with soup kitchens and food pantries that need proteins of all kinds to feed their patrons.
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