As the weeks of deprivation approach, I observe in a newly opened supermarket lobsters for only £4.99. They come frozen all the way from British North America.
Even observant Byzantines, I gather, are allowed to eat such food, categorised as marine rubbish, during Lent.
Roll on the happy season.
Is it philologically correct to speak of the "carbon footprint" of a lobster?
A crustacean's "foot" is called a dactylus. So, carbon fingerprint?
ReplyDeleteI am sure that the ecopharisees will consider that it has got one.
ReplyDeleteUnless the lobsters are being flown in by private jet to satisfy Mr Al Gore who already has an ecoindulgence.
What a helpful tip, Father. Being a bit of a Byzantinophile, I have just popped out and acquired two (I assume from the same supermarket chain), as a suitably penitential addition to the season's fare. Of course, if one is doing it properly, butter and oil are off the menu, so does anyone have any recipes for lobster à la xérophagie?
ReplyDeleteReminds me of a dear departed Dominican, who'd transferred to the Byzantine Rite rather than deal with the Novus Ordo - Lent having come round again, he'd lecture "You Latins" on the rigors of the Eastern fast, while lunching on a dozen oysters fresh from the market (the object of his morning constitutional)... meanwhile, in the corner, a humble lay brother sat uncomplaining to eat a tomato sandwich.
ReplyDelete(I should point out that Lent occurs Down Under when tomatoes are still fresh on the vine.)
ReplyDeleteIs this a Fast, to keep
ReplyDeleteThe larder lean?
And clean
From fat of veals and sheep?
Is it to quit the dish
Of flesh, yet still
To fill
The platter high with fish?
— Robert Herrick
Lobster, carbon footprint? we're asked
ReplyDeleteAnd all I can think of is "podcast?"
I live in the Deep South. You know, a mess of crawdaddies is a fine Lenten addition to the menu. And, with a little Louisiana spice on them. YUM. What about a nice Lenten gumbo. And who can forget those Alabama catfish.
ReplyDeleteLet's hear it for a Southern Great Lent!
Lobster??? Here in the frigid northern states of the former colonies we’re a little removed from seafood delicacies (hardly to be found in the Great Lakes!). But we do have something called The Friday Fish Fry. Harking back to an earlier time when all Fridays were Days of Abstinence, it is not confined to Lent and is ‘celebrated’ year round.
ReplyDeleteHowever, from the American penchant for overdoing things, many are billed as of the “All you can eat” variety. Hence, while I think we have the ‘Abstinence’ part covered, I’m not so sure about the ‘Fast’ element…
While butter and oil would be off a Byzantine Lenten pantry list, as Fr. Willaim noted, a decent sauce Newburg can be concocted using almond milk (the traditional Lenten dairy substitute) or the modern (and much more easily obtained) equivalent, soy milk, with corn starch to thicken. Of course, the sherry that usually is in a newburg sauce probably also isn't allowed, so you would have to get creative with the flavoring.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that, Steve … I shall experiment …
ReplyDeleteNot all Byzantines, according more to tradition than actual canon law, will eat lobsters, or any shellfish, during lent. Although permitted to the Greeks, the Russians do not (at least when I was still in seminary) consider shellfish as lenten; or in fact food at any time.
ReplyDeleteAs I understand the Greek Catholics in the states, their fast laws now approximate the local Roman Catholics, meaning they do not really fast at all.
Finally, where I live the local market is offering lobsters for $4.99 each! Which is considerably less than the cost in pounds! I am on my way right after I grade a few more compositions!!!!!