The smell? Overwhelming at times. The look and texture? Enough to "gross-out" some people. But, looking back now at what they accomplished in their Elements of Food Science class this spring, University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC) students say any unpleasantness was worth it.

    Instructor Doris Wang's students, working with the North Country Food Bank in Crookston, MN as part of a UMC Service Learning project, developed a variety of recipes for preparing ground fish (carp, specifically). The food bank then distributed a recipe brochure, developed by student Dina VanDorsten of Hawick, MN, to its clients in 21 Minnesota counties, including 40-plus food shelves and numerous soup kitchens and senior citizen centers. Bonnie Peterson at North Country said she's waiting for feedback on how the ground fish recipes were received. She's cautiously optimistic.

    "We were real impressed with the recipes the students gave us; they use a lot of ingredients that are readily accessible in this area and, most importantly, they taste real good," Peterson said. "Before UMC got involved we'd already tried some recipes involving the fish and they just didn't go over very well. The recipes the students came up with involve dishes that people in this area are more accustomed to, with some little twists here and there."

    Wang's students worked most of their ground fish magic in UMC's food science lab. While some brought their own recipes and replaced the staple ingredient with the ground fish, they also developed entirely new recipes featuring the intriguing ingredient. Student Sue Hanson, of Hallock, MN, had never heard of ground fish before Wang introduced the service-learning project to the class.

    "You brown it the same way you would brown hamburger and it looks a lot like hamburger once it's been cooked up," Hanson explained. As each recipe was made, cooked and sampled, Hanson and her classmates gave it a thumbs up or a thumbs down. They made several varieties of fish chowder, fish balls (instead of traditional meat balls), fish patties, fish enchiladas and a quiche. The chowders and the patties were most popular with the students, who also saw the potential of using ground fish in tacos and casseroles.

    "It's an easy ingredient to work with," Hanson added, "and each recipe was tempting in its own way." That said, she admits her thoughts weren't as positive when Wang first introduced the project to the class.

    "At first, we were all a little grossed out at the thought of working with ground carp, to tell you the truth," Hanson said. "But after getting used to it we had a lot of fun experimenting with all the creative ways we could use it. Personally, I feel fortunate because I got to work with an innovative product that most people have never even heard of."

    In addition to Hanson and VanDorsten, students who worked on the project include Jo Anne Rudolph of Grand Forks, ND, Julia Ovando-Perales of Crookston, MN, and Jessica Pelletier of Pembina, ND.

    North Country Food Bank is affiliated with America's Second Harvest of Chicago, IL. A Kraft Foods grant through America's Second Harvest made exploring the potential of ground fish possible, Peterson said. Using the ground fish is especially logical at senior centers, she explained, because the health benefits of fish mean it's on the menu often. However, she added, it's a tougher sell to families who rely on food shelves to stock their cupboards.

    "We're hoping the students' recipes make it easier for the families to cook something," Peterson said. "The fish needed to be jazzed up in some interesting yet easy recipes, and that's just what the students did."

    The brochure contains recipes for cheddar quiche, cheesy enchiladas, Carolina fish cakes, two varieties of fish chowder, and fish patties. Included in the directions for the patties is a suggestion to fry the ground fish before adding it to the other ingredients and forming it into patties. That tip is a direct result of the testing in the lab, Rudolph said.

    "We had lots of trouble keeping the fish together if we formed it into patties or balls before cooking it," she explained. "It was a lot better if we fried it first."

    The patties were delicious if eaten right away while hot, Rudolph added.

    "Once they started to cool off they weren't as tasty," she said.

    The Kraft grant made possible a ground fish processing factory, Peterson said, that in the near future will actually produce ground fish patties and ground fish sticks.

    "A lot of this is in the experimental stage right now, and consumers have to like the product if it's going to take off and have a real future," she said. "The type of work the UMC students did can have a much larger impact."