Food for the soul, exploring the journey of religious fasting

By Chloe Moore

Sara Al Lawati’s ifṭār meal. Photo courtesy of Sara Al Lawati.

When the term “holiday season” is mentioned, you might think of festivities filled with food and drinking. However, some holidays are all about the opposite; fasting and abstaining from certain foods.

Many different religions and groups celebrate holidays that require observers to fast and/or abstain from food, most notably Lent in Christianity, Yom Kippur in Judaism and Ramadan in Islam. During this time, they must adapt to changes in the regular diets through new recipes or substitutions.

Once the fast is broken, however, observants of these holidays celebrate with a blend of traditional and modern foods, ranging from dishes like atayef or samosas to an In-N-Out hamburger.

Lent

Lent is a season of prayer, fasting and almsgiving for Catholics, lasting for 40 days and represents the period of time Jesus spent in the desert being tempted by the Devil.

While Catholics are only required to abstain from all meat besides fish on Ash Wednesdays and Fridays during Lent, Chabeli Navarro chose to adhere to this practice for the entire 40 day period.

“I feel like eating meat, at least in the U.S., is a luxury,” Navarro said. “That’s mainly why I did it. It’s not like a necessity, but it’s something that brings me joy so it’s just in solidarity with the fact that Jesus was in the desert for 40 days and he fasted.”

Navarro said abstaining from meat caused her to get creative with her meals.

“I got to eat a lot more fish and salmon but I also got to try more vegetarian options,” Navarro said. “Instead of eating pork, I would eat this mushroom thing that you can shred a little bit and it tastes really good. It really got me eating new foods.”

Navarro followed a recipe to make a BBQ pulled mushroom sandwich, substituting pork for King Trumpet mushrooms, allowing her to still enjoy her favorite foods while adhering to her goals.

After the season of Lent is over, Navarro said she still incorporates aspects of the practice into her daily life.

“Not only can I go back to eating meats, but I also have other options that I would have never tried if it wasn’t for abstaining from meat,” Navarro said. “In restaurants and fast food places and even just cooking things at home, I do see how I’ve implemented it into my daily routine.”

When Lent ends, observers can resume eating meat, including Navarro, who chose to break her fast with an In-N-Out burger.

An In-N-Out hamburger. Photo by Chloe Moore.

Ramadan

Ramadan is a holy month of fasting in the Islamic calendar where Muslims are expected to abstain from food and drink from sunup to sundown. Muslims gather in their homes or mosques after sunset prayer to break their fast with a meal called ifṭār.

Ifṭār can consist of any kind of food, but it’s custom to begin with dates.

“I feel like there is a very traditional recipe to ifṭār. First, you have to eat a date, and then you have to drink something called laban, which is like this yogurt drink,” Sara Al Lawati said. “After that, what my family usually eats is this bowl of soup, basically like an oatmeal soup, and then some fried pastries.”

Al Lawati eats a variety of foods for iftar, but her favorites are cultural dishes like samosas.

“There’s also a drink called Vimto, which is like this pomegranate drink,” Al Lawati said. “It’s honestly so sweet but it’s always so good and it’s so refreshing to drink it.”

Al Lawati also enjoys when her brother makes atayef, a Middle-Eastern dessert.

“It’s hard to describe, but it’s almost like a pancake with cheese inside but it’s dripping with syrup,” Al Lawati said. “So it’s like an amazing combination of sweet and salty.”

A cake resembling a mosque made for Ramadan by Al Lawati. Photo courtesy of Sara Al Lawati.

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, where for nearly 26 hours, Jewish people abstain from food and drink and spend the day in the synagogue to atone for their sins.

“It’s longer than a traditional fast and you’re essentially suffering to atone for your sins all day,” Lindsey Plotkin said. “You’re not supposed to shower, drink water, brush teeth or do anything besides go to the temple and go to services.”

Plotkin, who is a student and sports writer, often isn’t able to completely put her day on hold, but she makes a conscious effort to observe the fast.

“I think last year we had a football press conference and I was like, ‘Okay, I gotta go,’ so I went to that but didn’t take my water bottle,” Plotkin said. “There’s some things you can’t really skip so I just try to make it work.”

When Plotkin was finally able to eat after 26 hours, she decided to go with a Texas classic: Torchy’s Tacos.

“I know people will do a big ‘break the fast’ party, like (Texas) Hillel does a big one with bagels and lox and a bunch of foods like that,” Plotkin said. “But the family I was babysitting for was right next to Torchy’s so I got myself a giant thing of queso and tacos. I just do my own thing.”

The perfect atayef recipe

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tb. white granulated sugar
• 1½ cups water Room Temp.
• 2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
• ¼ cup crushed pistachios

In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients together. Add the water to the combined dry ingredients and mix. Set aside to rest for 15 minutes.

Heat up a non-stick skillet on medium-low heat. Drop 1–2 tablespoons of batter and spread lightly using the bottom of your spoon or ladle.

Once there are no more shiny (raw batter) areas, remove the pancake and place on a towel.

Once cool, place about 1 tablespoon of ricotta filling on the pancake.

Pinch the sides together to close it ¾ of the way.

Serve with simple syrup or as is.