Grünwald – fishmongers are preparing for Ash Wednesday – district of Munich

Every morning, Willi and Sandra Kerschbaum fill the counter with 180 kilograms of ice before the fish is placed on it and labeled. At half past seven, the fish supplier knocks on the window of their Grünwald shop “Fischdelikatessenschrank” and brings what they have ordered. At lunchtime, Willi Kerschbaum stands in front of the stove, preparing fried fish with potatoes or other fish dishes in the open kitchen. Customers then often sit down at the bar to watch him. Every now and then the phone rings, orders for cod, salmon and monkfish come in. The Kerschbaums have also experienced more extravagant wishes. Dogfish, captain’s fish and ray wings – all of this was already available in the fish shop in the Grünwalder Schlosspassage.

For the coming Ash Wednesday, Willi and Sandra Kerschbaum have agreed on something less unusual: fish on a stick with pretzel. There are already small signs on the counter to draw attention to the Ash Wednesday offer. Last year many customers passed by on the first day of Lent, this time they are not so sure. “Strangely, we haven’t really received any orders for Ash Wednesday,” says Willi Kerschbaum. He suspects that many customers will probably go on vacation because this is now easier to do again.

The Kerschbaums are actually quite relieved about this. Because in the evening they want to cook fish for themselves: Red Kilau from the Amazon, one of the largest freshwater fish. “A serious newcomer,” says Willi Kerschbaum. The couple wants to try it out for themselves first before adding it to the range. But first the shop floor has to be cleaned, the ice cream lifted off the counter and the fish stowed away. Usually, the cleanup lasts until around 9pm before they can lock the door of their fish shop. It can get a little later on busy days. Around Christmas, for example, Willi and Sandra Kerschbaum regularly slept only five hours. In an RV they parked near their fish shop. Because back then they had to cook 50 to 60 lobsters ordered for Christmas, cut them in half and pack them up.

Willi Kerschbaum actually owned a moving company before his wife decided in June 2019 to take over the shop in the Schlosspassage from its old owners. Sandra Kerschbaum previously worked in a fish shop on the Viktualienmarkt for many years. “You can’t do it without fishing experience,” she emphasizes. It quickly became clear that she could not manage the business alone. Willi Kerschbaum’s mother and sister stepped in; he himself sold his company in order to be able to work behind the counter and at the stove. When the corona pandemic spread months after the opening, queues of waiting customers formed in the forecourt. The restaurants were closed and the demand for fish exploded because customers could prepare it at home.

The couple tries not to let the stress get to them in such situations. “It’s always fun with us, nobody leaves here grumpy,” says Sandra Kerschbaum. Then she waves happily to a group of people passing by. She and her husband know almost everyone in the Schlosspassage. A few shops down, Sandra Kerschbaum’s mother is sitting in her vegetable shop; every now and then the son of the Italian innkeeper next door will run in with an empty glass and ask for capers. “You need capers, we need rolls, very simple!” says the fish shop owner with a laugh.

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