Easter Time in Rhodes: The Clean Monday Tradition


The word “carnival” is thought to have come from the Italian carne levare or “abstain from meat” – which is also the meaning of the Greek Apokreas – and heralded a time when many religions prohibited consuming flesh during the sacred fast before Easter.







In the Western world, Fat Tuesday is followed by Ash Wednesday, a somber day when the faithful go to church and reappear with a smudged cross on their foreheads which the priest has traced with ashes from the burnt palms saved from the previous year’s Palm Sunday.

Lent continues to be a period marked by “giving up” some treat like chocolate, eating fish on Fridays and putting a coin or two in a “mite box” for the poor.




In Greece and Cyprus, Lent begins on Clean Monday (Kathara Deftera), and it’s a public holiday marked by picnics, kite flying and more feasting.


Who would have thought that 40 days of a practically vegan regime would be greeted with such cheer and joy?

As Lent approaches, people wish each other Kali Sarakosti (“Happy Forty Days”), banners stretch across streets in Athenian suburbs with the same message, and the displays of fasting foods in supermarkets rival those of the Christmas holidays.





During Carnival, believers will have gradually weaned themselves of animal products, starting with meat on the second Sunday, eggs and dairy on the third and final Sunday, when the traditional meal is some version of macaroni and cheese, and ending with consumption of a single boiled egg.

Although these rituals are no longer commandments, in the days before fridges and freezers, they would ensure a larder empty of forbidden foods which the housewife would then scrub to remove all traces of them, whence the Clean Monday, before she would prepare some vegan stews and salads to usher in Lent.

If possible, the day is celebrated al fresco, either a picnic or lunch party, and always with friends and extended family.



Like some American Thanksgiving gatherings, guests contribute to the communal feast – the hostess never has to provide all the dishes – and the only obligation is to eat, drink and be merry.

Flying a kite is part of the ritual, supposedly symbolic of a free and clean spirit.
Popular dishes throughout Lent are:


  • Artichokes cooked Constantinople-style, a la polita, with onions and carrots, or with broad beans
  • Dolmadakia yialantzi, “fake” because the grape leaves are wrapped around herb-flavored rice and not meat
  • Black-eyed peas, beans or lentils baked or as salads
  • Pies with greens
  • Pickles of all sorts
  • Spring onions and lettuce leaves
  • Dips made with eggplant, fava (split yellow pea puree)
  • Taramosalata, which, though made with fish roe, is acceptable




Even the bread is different on Clean Monday: unleavened, it comes in flattish loaves that can be at least 60 centimeters (2 feet) long, called lagana.

Bought piping hot from the bakery, this is the kind of irresistible bread that inevitably arrives home with a few chunks ripped out of one end.


Nowadays, lagana comes in many flavors; apart from the original white, it can be whole grain, cornmeal or mixed with olives or sun-dried tomato, and a slice (or more) is ideal for scooping up the dips and sauces served at the feast.



You might be surprised to learn that the Orthodox Church calendar holds only 68 days when meat and dairy are permitted.

The other 215 are considered fast days, with wine and oil present on all but the strictest.

Apart from Great Lent before Easter, there are three more fasting periods: 40 days before Christmas, 14 days before the Dormition of the Virgin on August 15, and the fast of the Apostles after Pentecost.

In addition, one must factor in every Wednesday and Friday throughout the year and a few other holy days. However, so many exceptions exist for saints’ days within fasting per iods that the uninitiated would need a special app to observe them all.



There are even some days when fish is specifically allowed, one of them being March 25, Annunciation Day, which coincides with Greek Independence Day.


Fried salt cod with garlic sauce is the traditional dish and in preparation all the supermarkets stage special displays of whole sides and fillets, encrusted with salt and not, and surrounded by blue and white flags, to encourage purchases.

Comments

  1. Carnival festival Greece is not of the best time to visit Greece as it is full of enjoyment and a lot many things to do and visit. The carnival has been described perfectly in this blog. I am just searching for some options and blogs that can help me with the way to book the tickets online for the carnival.

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