Greek Lent Monday and seafood go hand in hand…

Lent Monday was terrific this year, even though Andy and I spent it quietly on our own, for the first time ever, but we made it special, all the same.

Inevitably, I took time to think back to the old days first thing in the morning. Back then, my parents and grandparents were all still around and Mum would be tethered to the kitchen stove all weekend preparing a feast for the big day. Never seen so many dishes on one single table before, folks, and it only happened on Lent Monday!

Mum also made cheesepies from scratch on the eve of Lent Monday, as this is called Tyrini Sunday and it’s a day to eat cheese, as the name suggests. This is an old tradition from the days when it was practical to use up all the cheese in the pantry as the fasting back then was strict and no cheese would be eaten until Easter. It was a total abstention from all animal products, to be exact.

This year for Tyrini, I honoured my parents’ memory by having cheesepies in the oven and also bean and pasta soup made with my father’s recipe. I will blog this delicious soup soon, by the way, and share it with you here, probably next month.

On Lent Monday we fasted strictly, to honour the tradition.

It was a partly cloudy day, very mild, perfect for a walk on the seafront.

We were delighted to catch the cat you see here on camera as it leapt out from the boat.

Neraki (a small town next to our town of Nea Peramos) was busy at the roadside seafood stalls when we went to buy mussels and clams (cockles).

We took a few better pictures but the people behind the counter asked us nicely not to post their faces.

And I have to honor their request, even though it makes no sense, seeing that every year on Lent Monday a major TV channel gets there from Athens to interview the very same people for the lunchtime tv news LOL!

The cockles went down nicely back home with lashings of lemon juice, the lemons just cut from the tree in our front yard. Lunchtime, the fresh, locally farmed mussels made for the best lunch ever.

It all went down well with the various treats of the day, like dolmadakia (vine leaves stuffed with rice), broad beans in tomato sauce, pickles, lagana (flat bread with sesame seeds), and chalva (semolina cake).

At the end of the day, we felt truly blessed – it was a perfect day. Go here to see all the photos

Hey, I realise this is Easter weekend for most of the Christian world out there, but I’ll say it anyway, for the few Orthodox among you and for those who follow Greek traditions: ‘Kali Sarakosti’, everyone!

Which means, ‘Happy Lent!’

And, if you’d like to try my Greek mussel risoto with ouzo, go here for the recipe!

Lady Lent (Kyra Sarakosti)

Greek Lent started on March 18 this year on Lent Monday and will end on Easter weekend (Orthodox Easter is quite late this year – May 5th!)

I was delighted to discover a very old custom about Lent the other day and I am pleased to share it with you today. I was amazed by the fact I’d never heard of it before in the 5 decades of my life in this country, even though I was born in a family of adults that followed all customs religiously.

The custom of Kyra Sarakosti entailed a picture of her image that would be hung in the house like a calendar.

Lady Lent is depicted with a scarf and a cross on her head (because she attends church), with her hands laced together (because she is praying) without a mouth (because she is fasting), and, most importantly, with seven legs – one for each Lent weekend.

According to custom, Lady Lent is hung on a wall and each Saturday the family cuts off one leg – the first one on the Saturday after Lent Monday and the last one on Holy Saturday.

Housewives in the old days would hide the last paper leg inside a dried fig and serve it to the family with other figs. The person who found it would be considered very lucky. In some parts of Greece, the last paper leg would be put inside the ‘Anastasi’ bread (Ressurection) made for Holy Saturday dinner. Again, luck was said to follow the person who got to find the paper piece in their bread.

In some parts of Greece, Lady Lent would be made with a salty dough instead of paper. It was inedible, but it helped to preserve the dough during those 7 weeks. In other parts of the country, Lady Lent would be made using fabric and feathers.

I found this beautiful photograph on the site workingmoms.gr while looking for a dough recipe for ‘Kyra Sarakosti’ to share with you. Thought you may like to bake it with your kids like some Greek families still do today.

Visit workingmoms.gr and get the quick and easy recipe for the salty dough. Just make sure the kids don’t try to eat it, LOL

To get more ideas on how to make Lady Lent, even with coloured dough, go to this Google images page

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