Finding Meaning in Orthodox Lent, and Pleasure in Potatoes.

I grew up, not Catholic, but surrounded by Catholics, and so with the Catholic conception of Lent. It's more lax in that only a couple of days a week are affected, but in one important way it's a more meaningful affair: you vow to give up an indulgence- something that has significance for you. Orthodox lent is more culturally obvious- special menus at 24 hr fast food places obvious. There is a (largely theoretical) prohibition against all products from any animals with blood for 40 days- no pate, no ice cream, no gyros, no chocolate mousse, no beurre noisette, no fish and chips (except on the day of the Annunciation and on Palm Sunday- then we have fish). But, there is convincing lenten "cheese" in every supermarket- a yellow 'gouda" type, and a crumbly white brined "feta" type. A larger transgression against the spirit of abstinence? Unlimited quantities of crustaceans, cephalopods, bivalves. 

But what about the substance of things? The letter of Catholic or Orthodox law is not the point. It would takes nights of fried shrimp and steamed crab to make me finally ache for a hamburger. And "blessed" non-dairy "cheese" is morally ridiculous. 

What is not ridiculous? A season of simplicity and purity, a modesty in our cravings. Knowing there is not more piety in a lobster tail than in a broth of naked chicken bones. Above all, an abstinence from excess.

The secular rewards are great- a jaded palate is cleansed, and subtlety, quality, the nature of things just as they are shines again. At the table, the secular and the spiritual meet- this time in the form of a boiled potato, with oil and salt. If this does not excite you, you are probably not truly hungry enough to eat. If you are, it will be more delicious than you could imagine.

We will need:

2 potatoes

water

salt for the water

flaky sea salt for the finished potatoes

olive oil

I schlepped this 10 K bag of excellent high altitude potatoes from beautiful Archangel, Almopia:

When the Aegean pools up in rocks off the shore,
and the wind and sun whisk the water away,
this is what is left of the sea.

Scrub the potatoes, leave them whole and unpeeled, and cover them just barely with water. You can salt the water or leave it sweet, but some salt (a little less than you would for pasta)} deepen the flavor of the potato. Boil them gently until a knife slips in all the way to the middle without resistance. Perhaps 35-40 minutes.

The skins slip easily from the potatoes when they are sill hot- spear one with a fork, and coax the peel from them with a knife.

Slice them thickly, pour good oil over them, and shower them with fat flakes of salt. Of course, they are wonderful with herbs, or onions, or capers. Potatoes are bland. But they are not flavorless- they are subtle, rich and full- and no more need an accent than a bridal gown needs a red belt. Just this once, let them be the picture rather than the canvas, and enjoy them as they are.