This is an acceptable Lenten dish for any of the following types of fasts:
+ meatless
+ vegan (if you serve it with eggless noodles)
+ vegan without olive oil (if you don't use olive oil or egg noodles)
I served this once to my Hungarian friend Martha, and she was nice enough to tell me that it tasted just like the cabbage with noodles her mother used to make. I have to believe that her mother's must have been far superior, because Mrs. Nemesi used homemade square noodles, and I just make this dish with bow tie pasta from the grocery store. Martha also remarked that the shape of the bow tie pasta resembled her mother's square noodles. To enable you to try your hand at the really authentic version I'm including a recipe from a Hungarian cookbook for the noodles. I seem to recall that Martha said her mother served this dish with paprika and a little sour cream.
Did you know that vitamin C was first identified and extracted from paprika? Add some paprika and get your vitamin C today.
3 cups finely chopped savoy cabbage or regular cabbage
1 chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil (or butter)
1 teaspoon sugar
Noodles (I use 8 oz. of bowtie noodles)
1 teaspoon pepper
Mix the cabbage with the salt and let stand 30 minutes. Press the cabbage to squeeze out moisture. Heat the fat with the sugar, and then add the cabbage and onions and brown them. Add pepper. Cover after five minutes and cook until soft. In the meantime, cook the noodles in boiling salted water. Drain and rinse with hot water. Combine with the cabbage mixture, and heat.
I haven't tried the noodle recipe. After many attempts, I have found I cannot roll thin pastries and noodles. If I make noodles, I make soft Hungarian noodles called Galuska or Spatzle, which you scrape from a cutting board or drop from a Spatzle press into boiling water.
Noodles
Meteltek
1 1/3 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
Mix the flour and salt. Break the egg in the center of the flour, add the water, and mix. Knead thoroughly until the dough is smooth and velvety. Put flour on your hands and shape dough into a loaf. Cover and let stand 15 minutes, to make rolling easier.
On a floured board, roll out the dough tissue-thin. Divide in half if it becomes too large for the board. Slightly dry the sheets. Stack the pastry and cut it into 1 inch squares.
The Art of Hungarian Cooking. Paula Pogany Bennett and Velma R. Clark. New York Doubleday. 1954.
For the Catholic Church, Orthodox Church and some other Christian denominations, Lent is the main time of year for fasting. This blog has some of my favorite vegetarian/vegan recipe, which are good for Lent or other times of the year when you want to avoid meat.
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Friday, January 30, 2004
Thursday, January 29, 2004
Aduki Rice
This recipe has the same ingredients that were in the first surprisingly delicious aduki beans and rice dish that I tasted, and the result tastes just about the same. (See my other blog entry about Aduki beans.)
3/4 cup aduki beans, washed, picked over, and soaked for
at least 4 hours or overnight
6 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted in a frying pan until they begin
to pop.
2 cups brown rice, washed and picked over
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup parslety, finely chopped
Drain the soaked beans. Add the water and bring it to a boil.
Add the rice, sesame seeds and sea salt, and bring the mixture
to a boil again. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour.
Add parsley, and serve.
Six servings.
3/4 cup aduki beans, washed, picked over, and soaked for
at least 4 hours or overnight
6 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted in a frying pan until they begin
to pop.
2 cups brown rice, washed and picked over
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup parslety, finely chopped
Drain the soaked beans. Add the water and bring it to a boil.
Add the rice, sesame seeds and sea salt, and bring the mixture
to a boil again. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour.
Add parsley, and serve.
Six servings.
Aduki/adzuki/andaka Beans
Aduki/adzuki/andaka beans are small red beans with a distinctive flavor, which are popular in Japan and China. In Japan they are the second most often planted bean crop.
You can buy aduki beans at natural foods stores and Asian markets. This aduki_tips link has more recipes and has suggestions on how to grow your own (since the beans are a little expensive to buy at stores).
Warning: Memoir alert.
I first found out about aduki beans in the 60s when I tasted them in a macrobiotic dish. They are rich, like garbanzo beans, chewy, and satisfying to the mouth and the stomach.
The woman who gave me my first taste of aduki beans dish lived in an old townhouse on Rutland Street, in the South End of Boston in 1965 or so. I found her in the communal kitchen when I was looking for John Ashworth, an artist who rented rooms for $30 or $40 a month to his friends. I was then and still am very curious about "relationships" and how people manage to negotiate being intimate without marriage, and so I asked her a lot of questions when I found out that the woman was cooking for her "old man." [Another explanatory note: in the early days of the sexual revolution, only some of the rules had changed. Men were able to take women on any terms without any responsibilities, but women were still doing the cooking and nurturing.] Yup, I found out, she was staying in his room with him in a totally tenous situation, and paying her own way. But she was still cooking for him. Figures. I couldn't figure out how she could stand that relationship, I really couldn't. It seemed so unequal. If he loved her, why didn't he marry her? If he didn't love her, wasn't that hurtful?
The woman was contentedly enough preparing the food on a round wooden table. She was making aduki beans and brown rice with sesame seeds, and grinding gomasio, a seasoning made up of sesame seeds with salt. She let me sample what she was cooking, and I recall that the food tasted both very satisying and "clean." The clean feeling was not from the absence of chemicals because the food was organically grown. But I think now the clean feeling came from the absence of meat products. It was a minor revelation to me that food could taste deeply satisfying without being heavy in fat.
Macrobiotic Food
Most people, if they have heard of macrobiotics, think the macrobiotic diet consists of only brown rice. But that limitation is only for when a person wants to purify her or his body, as one might want to do, for example, after coming off a lifetime diet of meat and other processed food that has been grown with chemicals. [I'm just reporting, not promoting the brown rice fast. I wouldn't recommend it or any other weird unbalanced diet.] In its most liberal form, the diet excludes many of the foods we eat, but happily aduki beans are allowed.
I didn't start this with any agenda to promote macrobiotic food. But as I write this, I have to say I'm coming to the realization that I really enjoy eating macrobiotic food. One of my many theories is that when I crave something, my body really needs whatever it is that I'm craving.
Beets are one example. I love beets. I always heap them on my plate in a salad bar. When I encountered beets freshly made and marinated on a platter on a picnic table under the shade of a plane tree in the Languedoc region of France, at a brunch prepared by Marie Jose, the local woman who cooked for us at a yoga retreat, I thought my day had been blessed. I never make beets from scratch, so they are one of the few foods I buy in a can. When I open the can, I almost HAVE TO drink the liquid. Beets are high in iron and other minerals and vitamins, and I theorize that my body feels the lack and motivates me to love beets and crave the beet liquid too. I bring in YAD (yet another digression) this time because macrobiotic food might have elements my body lacks too.
When I came to the South End at 18 years of age, I had been living on an American diet rich in fat and carbohydrates and poor in fiber and nutrient-rich foods like brown rice and fresh vegetables. That day I had my first macrobiotic food I had been living on my own for about a year, making $40 a week, and scrimping on food. My big splurge was to get some vegetables by going once every few weeks to a little Chinese restaurant below street level on Tremont Street and order beef stir fried with tomatoes and green peppers and onions. But I didn't cook vegetables on my own. I think I might have been half-starved.
What's my point here? I have to ask myself. One thing to note is that people on macrobiotic or other restricted diets are very willing to fast for their physical health. And paradoxically the foods they eat while fasting are actually sometimes more satisfying on a deep level. Wouldn't a diet like this be good on a fast for spiritual health? And wouldn't it be a kind of cosmic giggle if the fasting would actually turn out to be more satisfying than the feasting? Are these what I'm trying to say here? Maybe. I'll have to think some more about this.
This odd link to a hotel in Singapore summarized the main principles of the diet and advertises that they serve macrobitic food:
Mandarin Hotel Singapore macrobiotic diet )
You can buy aduki beans at natural foods stores and Asian markets. This aduki_tips link has more recipes and has suggestions on how to grow your own (since the beans are a little expensive to buy at stores).
Warning: Memoir alert.
I first found out about aduki beans in the 60s when I tasted them in a macrobiotic dish. They are rich, like garbanzo beans, chewy, and satisfying to the mouth and the stomach.
The woman who gave me my first taste of aduki beans dish lived in an old townhouse on Rutland Street, in the South End of Boston in 1965 or so. I found her in the communal kitchen when I was looking for John Ashworth, an artist who rented rooms for $30 or $40 a month to his friends. I was then and still am very curious about "relationships" and how people manage to negotiate being intimate without marriage, and so I asked her a lot of questions when I found out that the woman was cooking for her "old man." [Another explanatory note: in the early days of the sexual revolution, only some of the rules had changed. Men were able to take women on any terms without any responsibilities, but women were still doing the cooking and nurturing.] Yup, I found out, she was staying in his room with him in a totally tenous situation, and paying her own way. But she was still cooking for him. Figures. I couldn't figure out how she could stand that relationship, I really couldn't. It seemed so unequal. If he loved her, why didn't he marry her? If he didn't love her, wasn't that hurtful?
The woman was contentedly enough preparing the food on a round wooden table. She was making aduki beans and brown rice with sesame seeds, and grinding gomasio, a seasoning made up of sesame seeds with salt. She let me sample what she was cooking, and I recall that the food tasted both very satisying and "clean." The clean feeling was not from the absence of chemicals because the food was organically grown. But I think now the clean feeling came from the absence of meat products. It was a minor revelation to me that food could taste deeply satisfying without being heavy in fat.
Macrobiotic Food
Most people, if they have heard of macrobiotics, think the macrobiotic diet consists of only brown rice. But that limitation is only for when a person wants to purify her or his body, as one might want to do, for example, after coming off a lifetime diet of meat and other processed food that has been grown with chemicals. [I'm just reporting, not promoting the brown rice fast. I wouldn't recommend it or any other weird unbalanced diet.] In its most liberal form, the diet excludes many of the foods we eat, but happily aduki beans are allowed.
I didn't start this with any agenda to promote macrobiotic food. But as I write this, I have to say I'm coming to the realization that I really enjoy eating macrobiotic food. One of my many theories is that when I crave something, my body really needs whatever it is that I'm craving.
Beets are one example. I love beets. I always heap them on my plate in a salad bar. When I encountered beets freshly made and marinated on a platter on a picnic table under the shade of a plane tree in the Languedoc region of France, at a brunch prepared by Marie Jose, the local woman who cooked for us at a yoga retreat, I thought my day had been blessed. I never make beets from scratch, so they are one of the few foods I buy in a can. When I open the can, I almost HAVE TO drink the liquid. Beets are high in iron and other minerals and vitamins, and I theorize that my body feels the lack and motivates me to love beets and crave the beet liquid too. I bring in YAD (yet another digression) this time because macrobiotic food might have elements my body lacks too.
When I came to the South End at 18 years of age, I had been living on an American diet rich in fat and carbohydrates and poor in fiber and nutrient-rich foods like brown rice and fresh vegetables. That day I had my first macrobiotic food I had been living on my own for about a year, making $40 a week, and scrimping on food. My big splurge was to get some vegetables by going once every few weeks to a little Chinese restaurant below street level on Tremont Street and order beef stir fried with tomatoes and green peppers and onions. But I didn't cook vegetables on my own. I think I might have been half-starved.
What's my point here? I have to ask myself. One thing to note is that people on macrobiotic or other restricted diets are very willing to fast for their physical health. And paradoxically the foods they eat while fasting are actually sometimes more satisfying on a deep level. Wouldn't a diet like this be good on a fast for spiritual health? And wouldn't it be a kind of cosmic giggle if the fasting would actually turn out to be more satisfying than the feasting? Are these what I'm trying to say here? Maybe. I'll have to think some more about this.
This odd link to a hotel in Singapore summarized the main principles of the diet and advertises that they serve macrobitic food:
Mandarin Hotel Singapore macrobiotic diet )
Cuban Beans and Rice
You can use aduki beans or black beans in this.
If you like seaweed, you can crumble up some
nori, wakame, or kombu and add it to the dish
with the other seasonings (enhance your mineral
intake while reducing the gasifying effects of the
beans). Start by soaking the beans, at least
four hours or overnight.
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (or pressed
through a garlic press)
1 cup brown rice
Optional: Nori, wakame, or kombu, crumbled
2.5 cups water
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon salt (or less)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup soaked and drained aduki or black beans.
Make this in a pressure cooker or in the oven.
Heat the oil, add onion and garlic, and
saute until the onion starts to turn translucent.
Add the rice and continue to cook for a few more
minutes, until the rice is just beginning to look
golden brown.
Pour in the water, add the seaweed if you are
using it, then add the cumin, cayenne pepper,
black pepper, and the beans. Cook
in the pressure cooker at low pressure for 30
minutes, or bake in the oven for 1 hour. If
using a pressure cooker, let the
pressure drop by itself. Add the salt after cooking.
You might enjoy this as a kind of sandwich on a
tortilla.
If you like seaweed, you can crumble up some
nori, wakame, or kombu and add it to the dish
with the other seasonings (enhance your mineral
intake while reducing the gasifying effects of the
beans). Start by soaking the beans, at least
four hours or overnight.
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (or pressed
through a garlic press)
1 cup brown rice
Optional: Nori, wakame, or kombu, crumbled
2.5 cups water
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon salt (or less)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup soaked and drained aduki or black beans.
Make this in a pressure cooker or in the oven.
Heat the oil, add onion and garlic, and
saute until the onion starts to turn translucent.
Add the rice and continue to cook for a few more
minutes, until the rice is just beginning to look
golden brown.
Pour in the water, add the seaweed if you are
using it, then add the cumin, cayenne pepper,
black pepper, and the beans. Cook
in the pressure cooker at low pressure for 30
minutes, or bake in the oven for 1 hour. If
using a pressure cooker, let the
pressure drop by itself. Add the salt after cooking.
You might enjoy this as a kind of sandwich on a
tortilla.
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Greek Spinach Pilafi (Spinach with Rice)
(vegan with oil)
A Minnesota woman of Swedish descent who married a Greek man showed me how to make this authentic Greek dish. When I first met Beth she was the secretary at St. Frances Cabrini Church in Southeast Minneapolis, then she moved to the Boston area. Her husband still lived in Greece, but she had come back to the U.S. without him. Her reasons were complicated (I seem to recall that her mother-in-law was a consideration) but one major draw was that her [their?] children had previously all moved to U.S. too. The husband would come visit her from time to time, and during his conjugal visits would try to pursuade her to come back . . .. The last time I saw Beth was during a hurried visit in Harvard Square while I was back East seeing my family and visiting friends about 10 years ago. I've lost track of her since then, but wherever you are (maybe Greece?) "Thanks, Beth."
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen or approximately 2 cups cooked fresh spinach
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
salt, pepper, and mint (dried or fresh or skip it) to taste
1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil
Fresh lemon juice (or frozen or bottled, if you like that)
Cook spinach and drain. Add cooked rice to pan with spinach, and
stir with a fork to mix. Add salt, pepper, and optional mint.
Heat oil to sizzling. Pour hot oil over spinach/rice mixture, and
carefully stir to mix. Let rest about 5 minutes. Add lemon juice
to taste.
This is a great lunch or light supper. Serve it with a salad sprinkled
with toasted seeds or cooked beans (garbanzos for example)
for a balanced protein meal. Or eat beans or nuts or seeds some
other time during the day.
A Minnesota woman of Swedish descent who married a Greek man showed me how to make this authentic Greek dish. When I first met Beth she was the secretary at St. Frances Cabrini Church in Southeast Minneapolis, then she moved to the Boston area. Her husband still lived in Greece, but she had come back to the U.S. without him. Her reasons were complicated (I seem to recall that her mother-in-law was a consideration) but one major draw was that her [their?] children had previously all moved to U.S. too. The husband would come visit her from time to time, and during his conjugal visits would try to pursuade her to come back . . .. The last time I saw Beth was during a hurried visit in Harvard Square while I was back East seeing my family and visiting friends about 10 years ago. I've lost track of her since then, but wherever you are (maybe Greece?) "Thanks, Beth."
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen or approximately 2 cups cooked fresh spinach
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
salt, pepper, and mint (dried or fresh or skip it) to taste
1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil
Fresh lemon juice (or frozen or bottled, if you like that)
Cook spinach and drain. Add cooked rice to pan with spinach, and
stir with a fork to mix. Add salt, pepper, and optional mint.
Heat oil to sizzling. Pour hot oil over spinach/rice mixture, and
carefully stir to mix. Let rest about 5 minutes. Add lemon juice
to taste.
This is a great lunch or light supper. Serve it with a salad sprinkled
with toasted seeds or cooked beans (garbanzos for example)
for a balanced protein meal. Or eat beans or nuts or seeds some
other time during the day.
Eggplant-Potato-Tomato-Onion Stew
1 large eggplant cut into chunks
1 1/2 lb. potatoes cut into the same sized chunks
as the egglant
3 large onions, sliced
About 1/2 cup olive oil
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1 crushed bay leaf
1 lb. (about 4) tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste and a dash of sugar.
Sprinkle the eggplant chunks with salt and let stand
half an hour. (Salting is to remove bitterness from the
eggplant.)
Pat the eggplant dry with a towel. Heat about 1/3 cup
oil in a wide-bottomed pan. Saute the eggplant,
potatoes, and onions, stirring frequently, about 20
minutes, until the onions and potatoes are golden. Add
more oil.
Add the garlic, parsley, bay leaf, tomatoes, water, and
seasonings. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender
and well-coated with sauce. Let stand about 10 minutes for
flavors to blend.
Serves 6.
1 1/2 lb. potatoes cut into the same sized chunks
as the egglant
3 large onions, sliced
About 1/2 cup olive oil
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1 crushed bay leaf
1 lb. (about 4) tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste and a dash of sugar.
Sprinkle the eggplant chunks with salt and let stand
half an hour. (Salting is to remove bitterness from the
eggplant.)
Pat the eggplant dry with a towel. Heat about 1/3 cup
oil in a wide-bottomed pan. Saute the eggplant,
potatoes, and onions, stirring frequently, about 20
minutes, until the onions and potatoes are golden. Add
more oil.
Add the garlic, parsley, bay leaf, tomatoes, water, and
seasonings. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender
and well-coated with sauce. Let stand about 10 minutes for
flavors to blend.
Serves 6.
Changes in the laws on fasting and abstinence and the accompanying changes in people's faith
The Roman Catholic Church relaxed the laws of fast and abstinence. In February, 1966 Pope Paul VI issued an apostolic constitution changing the rules.
The following quote from the bishops of the United States summarize the current requirements:
"Catholics in the United States are obliged to abstain from the eating of meat on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays during the season of Lent. They are also obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday (ref. Canons 1249-1253, Code of Canon Law)."
It might be hard for a non-Catholic to understand how disturbed many Catholics were about that change and how some people's faith was shaken. The most extreme reaction, and unfortunately a fairly common one for many people, was to come to believe that now all of the dogmas of the Church are up for grabs. People were especially troubled about the fact that eating meat on Friday had been a mortal sin and now it wasn't. Maybe the same thing applied to other things that the Church has taught are serious sins? Maybe sex outside of marriage, for instance? Or the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays? (By the way, just to set the record straight, the answer to the rhetorical questions in this paragraph are, "No," and "No.") A lot could be said about this topic of the difference between unchangeable moral laws and disciplinary laws, and I'll try to come back to it later.
But for today I want to open the topic of another sort of confusion that many of us have about the change in regulations. Even though the requirement for fasting and abstinence under pain of sin have been lifted, as one Orthodox writer on this topic wrote, the Church cannot take away Christ's clear mandate that His followers fast.
On every Friday, the Church still remembers the death of the Lord. And Catholics are still supposed to do some penitential practice on Fridays. Not having enough imagination to think of something new and lacking the constancy to stick to something I make up myself, I continue to not eat meat on Fridays.
While He was alive in the flesh on this earth, Christ said that his followers did not fast because no one fasts while they have the bridegroom with them. The Orthodox remember this saying by calling Friday fasts the fasts in honor of the absent bridegroom.
The following is a quote from the US Catholic Bishops that followed the sentences quotes above. These sentences interestingly show the Bishops strongly encourage Catholics to voluntarily continue the old traditional fast during the weekdays of Lent and meatless Fridays:
"Self-imposed observance of fasting on all weekdays of Lent is strongly recommended. Abstinence from flesh meat on all Fridays of the year [excluding solemnities like Christmas which may fall on Friday] is especially recommended to individuals and to the Catholic community as a whole" (ref. Canons 1249-1253, Code of Canon Law).
The following quote from the bishops of the United States summarize the current requirements:
"Catholics in the United States are obliged to abstain from the eating of meat on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays during the season of Lent. They are also obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday (ref. Canons 1249-1253, Code of Canon Law)."
It might be hard for a non-Catholic to understand how disturbed many Catholics were about that change and how some people's faith was shaken. The most extreme reaction, and unfortunately a fairly common one for many people, was to come to believe that now all of the dogmas of the Church are up for grabs. People were especially troubled about the fact that eating meat on Friday had been a mortal sin and now it wasn't. Maybe the same thing applied to other things that the Church has taught are serious sins? Maybe sex outside of marriage, for instance? Or the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays? (By the way, just to set the record straight, the answer to the rhetorical questions in this paragraph are, "No," and "No.") A lot could be said about this topic of the difference between unchangeable moral laws and disciplinary laws, and I'll try to come back to it later.
But for today I want to open the topic of another sort of confusion that many of us have about the change in regulations. Even though the requirement for fasting and abstinence under pain of sin have been lifted, as one Orthodox writer on this topic wrote, the Church cannot take away Christ's clear mandate that His followers fast.
On every Friday, the Church still remembers the death of the Lord. And Catholics are still supposed to do some penitential practice on Fridays. Not having enough imagination to think of something new and lacking the constancy to stick to something I make up myself, I continue to not eat meat on Fridays.
While He was alive in the flesh on this earth, Christ said that his followers did not fast because no one fasts while they have the bridegroom with them. The Orthodox remember this saying by calling Friday fasts the fasts in honor of the absent bridegroom.
The following is a quote from the US Catholic Bishops that followed the sentences quotes above. These sentences interestingly show the Bishops strongly encourage Catholics to voluntarily continue the old traditional fast during the weekdays of Lent and meatless Fridays:
"Self-imposed observance of fasting on all weekdays of Lent is strongly recommended. Abstinence from flesh meat on all Fridays of the year [excluding solemnities like Christmas which may fall on Friday] is especially recommended to individuals and to the Catholic community as a whole" (ref. Canons 1249-1253, Code of Canon Law).
How Catholics Fasted When I Was Young
When I was growing up Roman Catholic, in the early 50s to the mids 60s, Lent was a time of year when everyone gave something up. Us kids mainly gave up candy. And grown-ups, even though I couldn't understand how they could stand the hunger, ate only one full meal a day and didn't eat meat. Eating less food is called fasting, and not eating meat is called abstinence.
All year round, Catholics stood out by not eating meat on Friday. We ate a lot of tuna fish, prefried frozen fish sticks, and macaroni and cheese on Fridays over the years. People didn't seem to understand the spirit of the abstinence regulations, and not a one of us would have seen anything wrong with stuffing ourselves with lobster, clams, or shrimp on a Friday. We were being obedient, we felt, as long as we obeyed the letter of the law and avoided meat.
When I left the Catholic Church in college, I first announced my apostasy to the world (and to myself) by eating meat. It was 1963. At the time, I was going to a mostly-Jewish university called Brandeis. They served unlimited portions of rare roast beef, my favorite food, and they always served it on Friday.
The university had a kosher section in the freshman cafeteria. When I decided I didn't believe in the Catholic Church any more a few months into the school year, I took my tray with a plate full of roast beef over to the kosher side, and sat with my Orthodox Jewish boyfriend, who was eating with a yarmulke (skull cap) on his head. I must have been nervous about what I was doing, because when I gestured I spilled my glass of milk over his serving of kosher roast beef. You have to understand a little bit of the kosher laws to know why that was such an outrageous thing to do. My Jewish classmates had told me that in Leviticus, Jews were forbidden to seethe a kid in its mother's milk, and that prohibiition had led to the prohibition of eating meat and milk together. Orthodox Jewish households had two sets of dishes, one for serving meat, and one for serving dishes made with milk. Rabbis oversaw the cafeteria and certified that the kosher laws were being kept. The proper response to the travesty I had just commited was for the rabbi to be notified, and the meat-only plates and utensils that had been touched by the milk should have been destroyed.
By my boyfriend also was turning his back on the faith of his childhood, and he simply picked up a paper napkin, blotted the milk off his meat, and finished his meal.
Why all this fuss about food? you may be asking. I'll try to provide some answers here.
All year round, Catholics stood out by not eating meat on Friday. We ate a lot of tuna fish, prefried frozen fish sticks, and macaroni and cheese on Fridays over the years. People didn't seem to understand the spirit of the abstinence regulations, and not a one of us would have seen anything wrong with stuffing ourselves with lobster, clams, or shrimp on a Friday. We were being obedient, we felt, as long as we obeyed the letter of the law and avoided meat.
When I left the Catholic Church in college, I first announced my apostasy to the world (and to myself) by eating meat. It was 1963. At the time, I was going to a mostly-Jewish university called Brandeis. They served unlimited portions of rare roast beef, my favorite food, and they always served it on Friday.
The university had a kosher section in the freshman cafeteria. When I decided I didn't believe in the Catholic Church any more a few months into the school year, I took my tray with a plate full of roast beef over to the kosher side, and sat with my Orthodox Jewish boyfriend, who was eating with a yarmulke (skull cap) on his head. I must have been nervous about what I was doing, because when I gestured I spilled my glass of milk over his serving of kosher roast beef. You have to understand a little bit of the kosher laws to know why that was such an outrageous thing to do. My Jewish classmates had told me that in Leviticus, Jews were forbidden to seethe a kid in its mother's milk, and that prohibiition had led to the prohibition of eating meat and milk together. Orthodox Jewish households had two sets of dishes, one for serving meat, and one for serving dishes made with milk. Rabbis oversaw the cafeteria and certified that the kosher laws were being kept. The proper response to the travesty I had just commited was for the rabbi to be notified, and the meat-only plates and utensils that had been touched by the milk should have been destroyed.
By my boyfriend also was turning his back on the faith of his childhood, and he simply picked up a paper napkin, blotted the milk off his meat, and finished his meal.
Why all this fuss about food? you may be asking. I'll try to provide some answers here.
Introduction
This blog is a place to collect my thoughts about penitential practices of fasting and abstinence in the Catholic Church. (For anyone who doesn't know what I mean about any of these things, don't worry, all terms will be defined.)
In about a month, Lent will start again. For the Catholic Church and many other Christian denominations, Lent is the main time of year when fasting and abstinence are practiced. The mystery of why people fast and abstain will be discussed here, so if you don't have a clue why people do these things, stay tuned.
When Lent starts on February 25, I will start a Lenten fast and record here the things I eat. I plan to follow a modified version of the Great Fast of the Orthodox Church, which proscribes meat, meat products, fish, and fowl, leaving its practioners with what is essentially a vegan diet. It is a good diet for me since I am very allergic to eggs and moderately allergic to milk.
Besides, I followed a vegan fast during Lent a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the food. My son and I felt lighter in several ways after eating that way for a while. I also painlessly lost 10 pounds.
This blog will also be a place to save my recipes. I have collected and made up some satisfying dishes that fit the vegan diet and that just about anyone would like, so I'll include my recipes here. I will also include tips on how to eat this way when you don't have much time to prepare food.
In about a month, Lent will start again. For the Catholic Church and many other Christian denominations, Lent is the main time of year when fasting and abstinence are practiced. The mystery of why people fast and abstain will be discussed here, so if you don't have a clue why people do these things, stay tuned.
When Lent starts on February 25, I will start a Lenten fast and record here the things I eat. I plan to follow a modified version of the Great Fast of the Orthodox Church, which proscribes meat, meat products, fish, and fowl, leaving its practioners with what is essentially a vegan diet. It is a good diet for me since I am very allergic to eggs and moderately allergic to milk.
Besides, I followed a vegan fast during Lent a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the food. My son and I felt lighter in several ways after eating that way for a while. I also painlessly lost 10 pounds.
This blog will also be a place to save my recipes. I have collected and made up some satisfying dishes that fit the vegan diet and that just about anyone would like, so I'll include my recipes here. I will also include tips on how to eat this way when you don't have much time to prepare food.
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