Lenten Fasting Foods

The Council of Laodicaea (360) expressly commanded its observance

It became customary for cooks to combine rice with vegetables, beans, and dry cod, providing an acceptable meal for Lent.

A vegetarian version of sarma is eaten during the observance of Lent and on Christmas Eve.

When Catholics were expected to abstain from eating meat during Lent, a meatless variety of gumbo, known as gumbo z'herbes (from gumbo aux herbes, or "gumbo of greens"), was often served.

Shiro is a favorite dish during special occasions, including Tsom (Lent), Ramadan and other fasting seasons.

It is a typical dish eaten on the second Friday of Lent, and generally eaten as a side dish especially along the Caribbean coast and Bay Islands region of Honduras.

Arab Christians traditionally eat mujaddara during Lent.

Torrija is a similar recipe traditionally prepared in Spain for Lent and Holy Week.

Halva is a traditional fasting food among Greeks who traditionally have food restrictions due to Greek Orthodox fasting periods, especially from meat, on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year, and for all of Great Lent.

The Mesopotamian people of Iraq also prepare this dish (with the same name), typically made while fasting during Lent-thus prepared without dairy products.

This dish was popular with German Catholics during Lent, when it is forbidden to eat meat.

It originated as a Lenten dish in Slavic regions, and is popular in Northeastern Pennsylvania and Southwestern Pennsylvania due to the large population of Catholic immigrants from those regions.

In medieval Europe they attained particular popularity as a meaty-tasting fish that could be eaten on fast days.

Although they are connected to Abrahamic religious holidays like the tenth day of Muharram, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Tu BiShvat, as well as occasions like a child's first tooth or a family member's passing, their roots can be traced back to fertility and rebirth rituals used by early farmers in the Near East.

This treat continued to be popular in the Byzantine era, particularly during Lent, as the absence of dairy or meat meant that it met the requirements of Orthodox fasting (Greek: νήστεις, nēsteis).

Magiritsa is eaten to break the fast of the Greek Orthodox Great Lent, the 40 days before Easter.

They are traditionally enjoyed at Christmas and Lent.

As of the 1960s, eel soup was being eaten in the Netherlands under the name Paling soep, particularly around Lent.