Fasting is a special time on the church calendar. There are four periods of abstinence in a year. Lent, or Four Tenths, is the central time of the church year associated with the preparation of believers for the greatest Christian holiday Easter. The essence of this period is to focus on cleansing the soul of sins through repentance. An important part of fasting is food restriction, or eating.
Orthodox posts - what are they?
Abstinence is very important during the multi-day pre-Easter period. Intimate relationships between spouses, as well as food of animal origin are prohibited. If the post is strict, and the Great Pentecost is just that, then the restrictions apply to fish. It can be eaten only on special days. Moreover, strict monastic diets ban even sunflower oil. But the laity (not monks) do not apply to these restrictions.
In fasting, the church recommends abstaining not only from bodily joys, but also from sinful thoughts and actions - anger, quarrels, gossip and idleness, that is, laziness. During this period, one should strengthen the prayers and try to attend church services more often. In addition, it is necessary to go through church sacraments - repentance (confession) and communion.
Restaurant Lent
During this period, it is advisable to avoid entertainment, especially for the last week, which is called Holy. However, Christians visit restaurants and cafes. Many people, as necessary, take part in business lunches and business meetings. There are also celebrations, a visit to which is almost mandatory. Not to go to them means to offend the owners.
During fasting, Christians pay special attention to their neighbors. Caring for relatives and strangers is an important quality of a believer. Have you been called to a restaurant? Feel free to accept the invitation. Even breaking the fast, you will bring joy to your neighbor, that is, act in a Christian way.
What establishments offer
Fortunately, during this period, many cafes offer special dishes consisting exclusively of plant products or fish. The lenten menu in restaurants is usually placed on a separate page where interested customers can easily find it. It consists of special treats, which should be divided into first and second courses, as well as side dishes. These are unique author's fantasies about healthy foods of plant origin.
Vegetable dishes are popular. For example, tomatoes in fasting are served in almost every restaurant. Fresh, fried, baked and even stewed - tomatoes are always in trend. Lenten menu in restaurants includes mushroom dishes. They are served fried or baked with potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini or eggplant. In establishments famous for grilled or open fire treats, large whole mushrooms or porcini mushrooms are always present.
The best vegetables
Potato dishes are very popular. This is especially true of rustic restaurants. National cuisine offers boiled, stewed, fried potatoes, which can be coarsely or finely chopped and even baked in a peel. This root crop goes well with various hot spices. Lenten menus in restaurants usually include sauces based on tomatoes, mayonnaise, as well as acidic foods, such as Georgian satsebeli. Potatoes are often served with vegetables, in particular with tomatoes, zucchini and bell peppers.
With a complete rejection of not only meat, but also eggs, butter, cottage cheese, cheese and other dairy products, it is important to make up for proteins that are absent in the diet. Herbal substitutes for this beneficial ingredient are asparagus, peas, and beans. On the basis of such products, many restaurants offer both traditional dishes and delicious fancy masterpieces from the chef.
Peas, corn and stuffed vegetables
Lenten menus in restaurants specializing in European and Caucasian cuisine often contain lobio - a dish of boiled beans with onions, carrots, tomatoes and a variety of spices. Asparagus is served with milk sauces, including the famous Provence. Green peas, along with solar corn kernels, decorate a variety of dishes with bright colored mosaics.
An important part of any lean menu is stuffed vegetables. Usually it is eggplant, zucchini or tomatoes. The filling can be fresh herbs, chopped mushrooms or even bread crumbs. Stuffed vegetables are most often served baked or grilled.
But what about dessert?
Lenten menu in the restaurant is usually in great demand. This applies not only to the main dishes, but also to desserts. The basis for the preparation of the most delicate sweet treats is fresh fruit. Various mousses and souffles, decorated with bright and juicy slices, are a bestseller. Often, walnuts or pine nuts, cashews and almonds are added to such treats.
Abstinence in Italian: bruschetta and pankotta
Many clients choose fasting menus during restaurants during Christian periods. The recipes of dishes prepared using special technologies are very diverse. One of the most popular fasting foods is the bruschetta. This is an Italian dish, the basis of which is bread fried to a crisp. It is rubbed with garlic and sprinkled with olive oil. The filling can be stewed peeled tomatoes, fried mushrooms or seafood.
Among lenten desserts , the menu of the traditional Italian pankotta, which is prepared without milk and cream, is very often found on the menu. Fruit soufflé is decorated with pine nuts, fresh berries, pomegranate seeds and sprigs of mint.
Lenten menu in the restaurant often includes traditional Russian pastries - rolls with various fillings: poppy seeds, apple, orange. Served pies, popular in Europe, for example, strudel. This product is stuffed with pears, apples, nuts, raisins and candied fruits. Among light desserts, fruit salads with sugar syrup dressing are popular.
Refined fantasies
A hit is an exclusive, author's fasting menu in restaurants. The photos of these luxurious dishes reminiscent of fairy palaces can be considered a work of art in itself. Surprisingly beautiful constructions of the cook are built using a tartar appetizer, consisting of finely chopped vegetables and the famous Italian risotto.
Potato parmantier is very popular among gourmet French dishes. This dish is reminiscent of julienne, but instead of mushrooms, everyone uses the familiar round root crop. This dish got its name in honor of the French chef Parmantier, who, according to legend, accustomed the French royal court to potatoes unknown then.
Special offer in institutions of two capitals
Lenten menu in Moscow restaurants is very popular. Numerous Spanish and Mexican cafes offer vegetable dishes with romesco sauce. Italian restaurants include bruschetta, pankotta and vegetarian pizza. And national Russian taverns offer their guests cabbage soup, dumplings with vegetable filling, pies and herbal tea.
Lenten menu in the restaurants of St. Petersburg and Moscow includes not only lean dishes, but also drinks. Cozy establishments delight visitors with a variety of freshly squeezed juices, fruit drinks, kvass and kissels. Spices are often added to drinks. For example, non-alcoholic mulled wine is very popular.
Noble foods and drinks
Bestseller - fruit and herbal tea. It is prepared from fresh and dried berries with the addition of various spices. The best morning drink is green tea with ginger. He invigorates, but does not increase pressure like coffee. Often, frozen berries, such as raspberries or strawberries, as well as slices of apples, pears, or peaches, are put in traditional black tea. You can add tropical fruits - passion fruit, papaya or mango.
The lean menu in the Pushkin restaurant is considered one of the most delicious and varied. It contains traditional Russian dishes of noble cuisine with a French touch. All dishes have original and elaborate names. Lenten menu of this restaurant includes cold appetizers, first courses, desserts, as well as cereals. Sauerkraut, pickled salmon in barrels, cabbage soup from nettles and dumplings with vegetables create a holiday for gourmets.
Japanese temperance: tofu soy cheese, shiitake mushrooms and rice noodles
Lenten menu in the restaurants of Yekaterinburg is extensive and varied. In this city, as in many others, guests are offered soy cheeses, such as tofu. Such products can be consumed by visitors to visitors. Alibi Restaurant has included vegetable fantasies of fresh and baked vegetables with tofu dressing on the menu. And the Berry Bar offers traditional salads - Greek and caprese - with this soy cheese. Institutions with Caucasian cuisine include sweet pilaf with prunes and dried apricots in their cards.
We will find the Lenten menu in Samara restaurants even in Japanese-themed cafes. There is nothing surprising in this, because our compatriots visit them. Numerous sushi bars in this city offer vegetable rolls, rice noodle and tofu soups, shiitake mushrooms and steam rice.
Seafood can also be eaten
During the so-called non-strict fasting, you can eat fish. Therefore, in the restaurant menu we find delicious dishes prepared from seafood. The fish is served on a vegetable pillow, baked in batter or grilled. An interesting way to prepare it is baking in a salt cocoon. Fish in such a crust is tender and juicy. The chef's menu also includes seafood: shrimp, mussels, octopuses and raps. Salad from the ocean inhabitants, seasoned with olive oil, goes well with fresh vegetables.
Budget establishments with home cooking include simple and familiar dishes on the menu. A fresh vegetable salad with exotic additives in the form of pickled mushrooms or olives will appeal to all lovers of traditional food. Among the first courses you can choose mushroom or pumpkin soup puree with corn or green peas. Grilled vegetables, potatoes or risotto are the main treat. Well, the traditional dessert will be a baked apple with honey or fruit salad.
In institutions with national Russian cuisine, they serve fragrant fresh pastries with tea. Here, the scope for the creativity of cooks is simply huge. Yeast dough is quite capable of becoming lush without milk, eggs and butter. And the filling can be very diverse: fruit, berry, poppy, nut. Dried apricots, prunes, raisins, candied fruits, apricots, figs go very well with yeast dough. Delicious pies are greased with syrup and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Features of national cuisine
A huge variety of lean dishes is provided by Caucasian restaurants. Traditional barbecue is complemented by grilled vegetables. A mixture of aromatic herbs, as well as wheat, rice or corn noodles, are added to national soups. Pilaf served with vegetables, raisins, prunes and dried apricots.
Chinese restaurants offer fried noodles with shiitake mushrooms, caramelized fruits and traditional green tea. And Japanese establishments prepare special vegetable rolls and tofu soups. Spanish, Italian and French restaurants also have something to offer to gourmet guests.
However, we find the greatest variety of lean dishes in institutions with traditional Russian cuisine. It is in our country that a centuries-old practice of nutrition based on plant products has developed. Therefore, in national restaurants, guests can try the most delicious and healthy, sanctified by the tradition of treats.