Καλή Καθαρή Δευτέρα!
Great Lent begins today. Clean Monday (/Kathari Deftera/) is a religious holiday in Greece, and marks the beginning of a 40 day fasting period, known as “Sarakosti” for the Eastern Orthodox Church, that precedes the Orthodox Easter.Clean Monday marks also the end to the preceding Carnival celebrations.
Celebrations and traditional food
Clean Monday is a public holiday in Greece. Families and friends come together and celebrate with outdoor excursions, kite flying and the consumption of fasting foods such as: “fasolada”-bean soup, “taramosalata”-a creamy dip made from fish roe, “lagana,”-a special kind of unleavened flatbread, baked only on that day,”elies”-olive oils, “thalassina”-seafood and a sweet called “halvas” which is made of tahini (a sesame paste).
Kiria Sarakosti or “Lady Lent”
Kiria Sarakosti or “Lady Lent” is a wonderful greek tradition that helps us mark the weeks of the Great Lent with a cookie.
She has seven feet one for each week of Lent.
Each Saturday of Lent break off a foot to mark the weeks until Easter.
