Holy Mackeral!

Holy Mackeral! Look at that beautifully charbroiled fish! So nicely done over an open flame!

Most of us have heard the saying Holy Mackeral, but do we really know what it means and why a certain fish has its own expression?

This question surfaced recently when my father-in-law gave us some mackeral to cook. Head Cook and BBQer Extraordinaire took it to the barbie and Voila! brought it back prompting the quite fitting “Holy Mackeral!”  

To get an answer to the question,  I did what we do these days … I grabbed my nearest electronic device connected to the internet and asked…I found out in addition to being an expression of surprise, shock or astonishment this fish saying possibly dates back to the 1700s in reference to the selling of it on Sundays, may have been used in place of Holy Mary to be more polite and less harsh, and that Mackeral was a nickname for Catholics because they ate fish on Fridays.  Holy Mackeral! I was raised Catholic and never knew that!

I also found out, this fish, which in addition to being meaty is also very oily (and that means a good source of omega-3 fatty acids) , and VERY healthy for people to eat, possibly helping with arthritis, immunity, cardiovascular wellbeing and having cognitive benefits.   Here’s some info I found.

Another good to know thing I discovered is Holy Mackeral Beers, small batch brewers with locations in both Florida and Virginia.  

And of no use to me, but interesting is Holy Mackeral is also a weapon in Team Fortress 2 video game.  

Back to the actual fish … I learned there are SOOOO many species of mackeral and many ways to cook it. SO, now that we know how good Mackeral is health wise, this is one fish we will have to dish up more often!!!