[Sca-cooks] Lenten stufff, chickens, fish and vegetarians...

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Abot Johann von Metten wroter:
>Middle Eastern Lent, that is Orthodox Great Fast starts NOT on March 
>1st but on February 27th, the Monday before Western Ash 
>Wednesday...Rome and the West counts the Sundays...the East does 
>not...
>
>   Also bear in mind that for the West, one might be allowed fish or 
>other cold blooded animals on Fridays and so forth, not so in the 
>East. According to St. John Chrysostom in the 3rd.cent. "let no food 
>derived from any spined thing pass your lips on these days of the 
>Great Fast..." "Keep with Joy and Feasting the Day of Resurrection, 
>let every Sunday be filled with joy, music and feasting for all!"
>
>   So that even today in the Eastern Church, both Catholic and 
>Orthodox, one will find the observant faithful ABSTAINING from meat, 
>but consuming dairy and egg products on Tuesdays, Thursdays and 
>Saturdays, and FASTING from all animal products on Mondays, 
>Wednesdays, and Fridays. While Sunday, again being the Day of 
>Resurrection, is forbidden to fast and so one might enjoy non 
>spined/invertabrates and dairy, as well as foods which might have a 
>meat broth or gravy but which is less than 1% of the dish.

I know you are quite knowledgeable about the Eastern Orthodox Church, 
and i expect what you wrote to be true in Byzantium. But in the Near 
East (Egypt, Syria, etc.) there were many different Christian sects, 
some of which are there to this day. Their practices "in period" were 
a little different from the Eastern Church, although i don't have 
lots of details. I know that fish recipes (one of which i made last 
year - fish with sesame paste sauce) are included in the Lenten 
recipes in The Book of the Description of Familiar Food.

The book also says that any normal recipes can be made in Lent, as 
long as meat is not included.
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita