Most visitors to Italy have a basic idea about our most famous food, namely the dishes of family and feasting. However, if they arrive between Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday, many quickly discover what more than 80% of Italians have known since youth, and that is the fasting food of Lent.
The forty days (excluding Sundays) before Easter are a time of preparation for the biggest festival of the church calendar. It is a time to reflect on who we are, on where we are, and to assess if we are living according to our beliefs or not.
Lent is a time to make right what we have done wrong, to forgive in the way that we want to be forgiven. It is a time to make sacrifices so that we can uplift others. It is a time to pray, and it is a time to do penance for sins, so that we are ready to be bathed with grace and new light when we celebrate the resurrection of Christ from the dead.
Many Catholic Italians fast from food, abstain from meat, and avoid amusements during Lent. Some do not go to the cinema or to the theatre, while others do not use Facebook or other social media. There also are Italians who give up smoking. Money that they save is usually donated to the church or to charities.
Almost all of them indulge again once Lent is over, and they usually enjoy those things even more than before they received the ashes on the first day of the holy season! Whether the player lives in Italy or New Zealand, the best pokies online seem even more exciting after Lent.
In the past, a great emphasis has been placed on fasting from food and abstaining from meat. Of course, this resulted in the creation or adaptation of dishes that offer flavour and nutrition without breaking the traditional rules and recommendations. It must be remembered that young children, the elderly, and the sick are not required to fast.
As eating meat was forbidden and then, later, merely discouraged (at least on Wednesdays and Fridays of Lent), most Italian cooks turned to fish and seafood. Those ingredients are still a predominant feature of fasting food recipes. One of the most popular is the fish and seafood stew that many fishermen made with the remains of their catch. Almost every coastal town in Italy has its own variation of the recipe, which has much in common with French bouillabaisse.
The fasting season also gives many Italians the opportunity to renew their appreciation of vegetables. During the rest of the year, vegetables often are the supporting cast to the meat, which is usually the star of the show.
Lent occurs as winter ends and spring begins, which means there are truly versatile seasonal foods that creative cooks take advantage of. Asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, leeks, pumpkin, and radicchio are just some of the fresh produce that appears in the marketplaces. As you can see, the holy season is a time to nourish body and soul.