In what is a really remarkable local feeding phenomenon, the fish fry season kicked off with Ash Wednesday this week. Friday and on the next six Fridays, fish fries will be fired up at dozens of Catholic and other churches across the region, as well as at social clubs and fire halls, and restaurants and taverns will get in on the action, too.

In an area where many Catholics give up meat during Lent, churches and other non-profit groups can make a great deal of needed funds by holding these weekly dinners. And lots of other people enjoy going to them.

If you're one of them, you must try to get your hands on a copy of the Pittsburgh Catholic's Fish Fry Guide. The popular supplement to the newspaper lists five pages of church fries in Allegheny and surrounding counties. You also can check it out at www.pittsburghcatholic.org/fishfry.php.

My copy was still warm off the presses when I pored through it, looking for new or newsy nuggets. Not a lot jumped out at me, but I did get seriously hungry reading the menus.

They all have fish -- sandwiches or "in a dish," mostly fried but some baked. St. Jon Vianney parish, in the neighborhood known as Hilltop near Mt. Oliver, also has shrimp, crab cakes, even pecan-encrusted tilapia. St. Therese of Lisieux in Munhall offers fish stuffed with crab meat. St. Mary's in Cecil has a menu touting cod hand-breaded in panko and wild-caught scallops seared in butter and olive oil -- plus beer!

Many places offer other beloved specialties such as halushki and pierogies and macaroni & cheese, as well as baked goods. In Bloomfield, Immaculate Conception/St. Joseph stands out for offering weekly changing side dishes, including, tomorrow, spaghetti with garlic and oil and broccoli. The North Side's Javor Hall offers "our famous Croatian Coleslaw."

Some fries offer delivery, and several do a big business feeding office and other workers in their areas. St. Philip, Crafton, offers car hop service.

And there are so many that aren't held by churches.

Get this: The Ancient Order of Hibernians, Division 32, in Carnegie holds its annual fish fry on Fridays through March at that town's Ukrainian-American Citizens Club, or "the Ukes" as it's known there. I'm thinking, What a great chance to get inside that place!

Fish fries can be an economical way to eat this time of year. Wright's Seafood Inn in Heidelburg is offering a takeout-only special of four fried fish sandwiches for $25; family-sized sides of mac & cheese, coleslaw and fries are $5 each. Even Downtown's Nine on Nine is doing a Lenten lunch menu.

And though it's fish fry season, it's not just about fish: Lots of churches hold pierogi sales. Each Friday for the duration of Lent, except for Good Friday, the folks at Saint Pius X Byzantine Catholic Church in Carrick will be selling pierogies -- for $6 a dozen -- from 2 to 6 p.m. "To order large quantities,' they advise, "call 412-881-8344."

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