Lydia Yanel
Toledo (EFE).- The seven weeks of Lent that began this past Ash Wednesday have their own gastronomy, from centuries ago, which is fundamentally based on stews, cod and French toast, a dessert that has been around since the 19th century. linked to Lent but which was known from ancient times because it was already taken by women in labor in Rome.
Jacinto García, a doctor from Toledo and author of numerous books on health, food and history, explained to Agencia EFE that the “most religious” Catholics continue to practice abstinence from eating meat every Friday of Lent.
There is also “another part of the population” for which meat-free dishes do not have the meaning of following the rules of the Church “but they go to them as a gastronomic cultural representation of a certain moment.”
For the Catholic Church, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fasting (only one important meal, without meat, at daybreak), and all Fridays of Lent (until Easter) are days of abstinence from eat meat.
Yes, you can eat fish because since ancient times it was thought that fish were not meat since its body was “cold”, not “hot” like that of mammals and birds.
Lent, a liturgical period since the 3rd century
Lent began to be defined as a liturgical period around the 3rd or 4th century, when some monks and hermits prepared for 40 days to celebrate Easter, the same time that Jesus Christ was in the desert, fasting and praying, before starting his preaching life.
In principle, not only were there days of abstinence from meat, but dairy products (eggs, milk and derivatives) could not be taken either, and the protein substitute was fish, specifically cod in the interior of the peninsula since it can be transported well, lasts a long time and the most intensive fishing in Greenland dates back to the 15th century.
Cod, protagonist of Lenten meals
“It became almost the protagonist of Lenten meals”, in multiple recipes, whether it be with onions, with tomato, with potatoes and artichokes or cod fritters, the expert in culinary culture has pointed out.
In Toledo, for example, the fresh fish came mostly from the Tagus River but there was a great supply of sea fish that reached the market through special routes that included snow or ice wells.
In fact, in the mid-14th century there is evidence that mullets, conger eels, sea breams, pijotas, tuna, whales, dried dogfish, octopus and dried sardines, among other marine fish, were sold in Toledo.
Torrijas, a gift for women in labor in Roman times
In addition to cod, the other two large groups of Lenten dishes are stews, with legumes and vegetables sharing the limelight, and French toast for two centuries, a dessert that has been known since ancient times but was linked to women who had just given birth. .
They were the ‘rebanadas de paridas’ (also present in the Jewish tradition) that are made as they are now but using honey.
It was believed that those ‘slices of births’ facilitated the secretion of the mother’s milk to feed the newborn and were a gift given to the parturient.
Another food that was given to these women to encourage them to have milk was chicken broth.
The stews, the “great stew”
Regarding the stews, Jacinto García defines it as “a great stew” and explains that “legumes, within the plant world, are a fairly complete food” since they have “a good level of protein apart from minerals, vitamins and fiber ”.
Adding a little more protein, such as a few pieces of cod, and seasonal vegetables, such as chard or spinach, the stew dish “is complete and for cold days, tones.”
“It’s a round dish”, emphasizes the author of the books ‘Carlos V at the table’, ‘A convent of aromas’, ‘Eating as God commands’, ‘The flavors of El Greco’ and ‘An edible story. Hominids, cuisine, culture and ecology’, among others.
The “boom” of Lenten recipe books
Lenten gastronomy has occurred practically throughout Europe because it is linked to Catholicism, and specifically at the beginning of the 19th century there was a “boom” of these meals and numerous books with recipes exclusively for Lent were published to inspire cooks.
In each country, however, there were variants of meals according to the gastronomic culture. For example, in central and northern Europe they did not eat chickpeas.
Francisco Martínez Montiño was a cook in the Court of Felipe II and Felipe IV and wrote the most influential recipe book of Spanish cuisine in the Baroque -‘The art of cooking, pastry, vizcochería and conservería’ (1611)- in which they appear, among many other dishes, how to prepare “aubergines for days of meat” and, of course, French toast.
