Giving up Food

It may seem strange to talk about giving up food on a Food and Drink blog but we all do it from time to time and for the weirdest reasons. This blog is not about dieting for aesthetic reasons, or even for health reasons but instead for religious ones.

We are now in the period of Lent during which Christians around the world prepare themselves for the celebration of Holy Week culminating in Easter Sunday. Historically this always involved 4 areas of activity - repentance, prayer, alms giving and self denial and it the last of these that has carried forward into many parts of society with the first 3 falling by the wayside

Self denial has many forms and for the more religious this can often include giving up pleasures of a physical nature but many people will take an easier route and give up favorite foods or drinks.

Many people will give up sweets or cakes with others also giving up alcohol all of which is very simple to do whilst in many catholic countries the more traditional route of not eating during daytime and only having simple foods at night is taken. This can be taken to an extreme when no cooked foods are eaten during the 40 days of Lent which are a simile for the 40 days and nights that Christ wandered the desert and was tempted by the Devil.

All of this normally starts on Shrove Tuesday, also known as Mardi Gras where historically people went to Church and asked to be shriven, or forgiven of their sins so that they could be pure for the run up to Holy week. Given that Mardi Gras festivals are some of the most exotic and in some places decadent parties of the year you have to somehow think they have lost the origins of the day but then modern day world often does this.

Shrove Tuesday also has another name - Pancake Day - and this religious date has spawned a whole new culinary style. Traditionally on Shrove Tuesday the matron of the house would prepare a batter mix of milk, eggs and flour as the first 2 items were not permitted to be eaten during Lent and then heated  in a pan to create a "cake" to which were added all of the other forbidden items such as fish, cheese and meats and then eaten by the whole house

Nowadays there is a whole industry around pancakes with franchise shops selling millions every day with some of the most exotic ingredients imaginable including Foi Gras or truffles.

The most traditional topping in the UK for pancakes and normally only eaten on Pancake Day is fresh lemon juice and sugar - a firm favorite of young children and hidden in the depths of history is that the lemon and sugar represent the bitterness of the Devil and the sugar the sweetness of God.

Whatever your religious beliefs they still make an excellent dessert although the American invention of Jubilee Pancakes consisting of hot cherries in an alcohol based sauce and served with ice cream has to come a very close second.