[Sca-cooks] Re: Lenten oils

[Chickengoddess]

FYI, the Orthodox Catholic tradition rules out olives and olive oil for
lent.  Now, looking at the pre-Trent Roman Catholic Church, we see that it
is much less like what the RC Church has evolved into in modern times and
much more like the Eastern Orthodox traditions in both liturgy and custom.
In the Eastern Churches (Greece, Serbia, Russia, Antiochian, Jerusalem, etc)
lent means no meat, fish dairy or olive products.  Strict observance means
totally oil free. For some odd reason shrimp and shellfish are ok.  Perhaps
in this instance, it would be more useful to look into the religious sources
of the period in western Europe for this information than the cooking
sources, as the religious practices dictated the dietary changes.

Just a thought,
Rhiannon Cathaoir-mor
South Downs, Meridies