Fasting Food of Greece

As a "Bad Greek" I have to admit that the hurried life I live in America doesn't always allow my "Good Greek" side to do what it wants to do. I'm talking about Lent and Easter. Add to my hustle and bustle some 32-plus years of marriage to a non-Greek, and now we have the complexity of choosing which traditional menu to have at Easter, and we have a bonus--celebrating Easter twice, because the Greek church follows an older calendar, thus placing Easter on a different date than that which is celebrated by Catholics and Protestants. To skip to today's recipe, click here.

For Greeks, religion is tightly woven into the culture.

In Greece, there is a prescription that everyone follows during Lent and especially for the week leading up to Easter Sunday. Fasting is expected, religiously and culturally, and this means going vegan. No meat, no fish, no eggs, no dairy and no alcohol. Even cakes and cookies have Lenten versions, which swap out olive oil for butter. While there are more moderate versions, this is the typical Lenten fast protocol. The holy week leading to the Resurrection also restricts oils, so you're down to vegetables seasoned with salt and pepper. Okay. All good. So, how do Greeks survive?

This is dinner, not a side dish. A great Lenten meal.

Have you ever tasted a boiled potato, still warm from cooking, with only salt and pepper to enhance its flavor? Once you've eliminated animal protein from your diet for close to forty days, it's amazing how delicious that potato is! Possibly you've had a tomato just with salt? Absolutely magical and satisfying. It's not just being a "Good Greek" when I fast. I'm also surprised at how good I feel and how satisfying a vegan meal can be. 

Today I'm sharing a simple baked dish. Arakas a la Polita, which is usually braised and includes artichokes as the main ingredient. The traditional Greek Heritage kitchen insists on fresh ingredients and using what you have. At this time I don't have artichokes, so I've used what I have--fennel. You can customize this simplified version by not using fennel or by adding another Greek vegetable like zucchini or potatoes. No celery. No mushrooms. No asparagus. They're not traditional. Also, no fresh peas in my grocery stores where I live, so my recipe uses frozen peas. I told you this was easy, right?

Here's my recipe in printable format.

There is a huge inventory of traditional Greek dishes called lathera, which translates as "oily dishes." which sounds awful, BUT they're all surprisingly delicious. Here are a few from the blog.

Spanakorizo--spinach, rice, onion, tomato sauce, dill, olive oil.

Fasolakia--green beans stewed with tomatoes, onion, parsley, olive oil. Often carrots and potatoes are added.

Kounoupithi--cauliflower stewed the same as the green beans. Somehow, it tastes like an entirely different dish. This is a family favorite.

Fava--while this name also refers to a soup, this is my recipe for the fava dip.

Halvah--a dessert made on the stove in a pot. Boring? Absolutely not!

For more information about fasting during Lent, as prescribed by the Orthodox church, click here.