Good Shepherd International Dinner

Italian

I was a preacher’s kid. Church potluck suppers often formed the mainstay of my family’s diet. Memories of those affairs are good ones. Everyone tried to outdo everyone else and we got food we never got at home. I drive a good 50 minutes to the far side of Tampa just to go to this one yearly event: the Good Shepherd Catholic Church International Dinner (6400 East Chelsea Street, Tampa, FL 33610, 813.626.7588; map). It resurrects all those pleasurable childhood memories of church socials. The prices are very low and go to a good cause and the food is the real thing. I wind up taking stuff home for several meals. This post will be mainly pictures; they really tell the story this time.

Polish

Good Shepherd is very much a working-class parish. They are my favorite kind to work for (I’ve spent a lifetime moonlighting on weekends as a church musician). Typically, Catholic parishes, in northern cities a couple generations ago, would have had separate churches for each ethnic group, each in their own neighborhood: the German parish, the Irish parish, the Polish parish, etc. Nowadays, they’re all blended, but most Catholic churches still have strong ethnic memberships. Good Shepherd is no exception as this yearly dinner proves.

Korean

There are several institutions on the grounds of Mary Help of Christian Center (www.mhctampa.org). One is Good Shepherd Catholic Church that was presenting this International Dinner. Another is a somewhat separate Korean speaking Catholic community who also participated in this International Dinner, but which has its own services in Korean. There is a year round Boys and Girls Club. Summer camps are conducted for for bay area children. I think it is not only an amazing place, doing the kind of work churches do best, but it is also a very serene environment on a lake.

I highly recommend just sitting by their lake, not thinking too much. It is of no importance what your religion (if any) is; a location that fosters silence—as these grounds do—is precious.

Turkish

Although Good Shepherd doesn’t have a Turkish membership, a member of the parish hosts several foreign exchange students from Turkey who have been active in the parish life this year. They prepared a complete table of excellent Turkish foods for the dinner.

Irish

This particular parish has a large, first generation Irish component. All the food you see above, is terrific, of course; but the big hit of the Irish table for me are the freshly made scones with soft butter and jam. The scones are almost the size of dinner plates!

German

No, not all Germans are Lutheran! In fact, the pope is German! And Austria, of course, is almost 100% Catholic. My kind of food—I even enjoy drinking the sauerkraut juice!

Vietnamese

Although the diocese of St. Petersburg does have an official Vietnamese community, they don’t have separate services at Good Shepherd. However, there are Vietnamese families and clergy there. I always place an advance request for two fried egg rolls so they’re not gone before I get some; they are the best I’ve ever had, anywhere.

Cuban

Of course, all across the Tampabay area, Cubans, some freshly immigrated, some several generations here already, have helped create the unique Tampa Cuban flavor. Plantains…oh my.

And finally, Mac and Cheese…what could be more All-American than that?

All-American

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Tagged as: ACTIVITIES, Florida, FOOD, international, Tampa