- Feb 5, 2002
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Buon Carnevale! Buon appetito!
When Mardi Gras is brought up, everyone always imagines New Orleans or Rio de Janeiro — but the truth is, the Italian Carnevale is the original inspiration for those parties.
When you have a basic Catholic culture someplace such as Bavaria, Italy, Ireland, Haiti, Philippines and Brazil, our religious feasts will affect the local customs. In the case of the necessities of the Church’s prescribed Lenten fast, naturally, we want a fare-thee-well to fun, excitement and Bananas Foster beforehand.
Even non-Catholics know that we start a 40-day fast on Ash Wednesday and want to brace ourselves for going cold turkey on the hot fudge sundaes — so we have a chance to have a little fun, gastronomically speaking. Partying before Lent is meant to use all of the extra luxury foods before Ash Wednesday. It was a day when Catholics need to use up all of their fats, meat, sugar, honey, butter and eggs that were any other day were historically considered extravagances, even for the wealthy. One final fling, one last night of “decadence,” before we all deepen our prayers for our salvation and that of our relatives and friends.
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
When Mardi Gras is brought up, everyone always imagines New Orleans or Rio de Janeiro — but the truth is, the Italian Carnevale is the original inspiration for those parties.
When you have a basic Catholic culture someplace such as Bavaria, Italy, Ireland, Haiti, Philippines and Brazil, our religious feasts will affect the local customs. In the case of the necessities of the Church’s prescribed Lenten fast, naturally, we want a fare-thee-well to fun, excitement and Bananas Foster beforehand.
Even non-Catholics know that we start a 40-day fast on Ash Wednesday and want to brace ourselves for going cold turkey on the hot fudge sundaes — so we have a chance to have a little fun, gastronomically speaking. Partying before Lent is meant to use all of the extra luxury foods before Ash Wednesday. It was a day when Catholics need to use up all of their fats, meat, sugar, honey, butter and eggs that were any other day were historically considered extravagances, even for the wealthy. One final fling, one last night of “decadence,” before we all deepen our prayers for our salvation and that of our relatives and friends.
Continued below.
3 Recipes for Celebrating Mardi Gras Italian-Style
Buon Carnevale! Buon appetito!
