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militaryCoo t1_j6lfzvf wrote

Reply to comment by Nitemiche in ELI5: when people give up red meat for lent, why do they always eat fish instead? Aren't chicken and turkey white meats too? by Inanimatepony

Eggs aren't allowed. Hence pancakes on Pancake Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent

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Phantom_Ganon t1_j6lmry7 wrote

>Eggs aren't allowed

Catholics are allowed to eat eggs during Lent. I can't find anything on Google saying otherwise.

Edit: TIL. I had never even heard of Shrove Tuesday.

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86tuning t1_j6luoxu wrote

sometimes called fat tuesday or mardi gras.

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militaryCoo t1_j6lmy5x wrote

https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/history-shrove-tuesday-pancake-day-tradition-why-we-eat-pancakes-lent-fasting/

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Phantom_Ganon t1_j6ln646 wrote

Wow. I've never even heard of Shrove Tuesday. I wonder when they changed the rules that allow us to eat eggs during Lent.

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makkdom t1_j6lnlun wrote

It is not the eggs that are the issue. Pancakes would have been cooked and eaten on Tuesday to use up the animal fat that greased the griddle. The fat had to be gone by Ash Wednesday or it would spoil during lent.

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drunk_haile_selassie t1_j6lvxh4 wrote

The rules for Catholics have lapsed quite a lot over time. They used to not be allowed to eat meat on any Friday. Now its just Good Friday.

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NetworkLlama t1_j6lxfia wrote

This is where McDonald's Filet-O-Fish came from. McDonald's fanchisee Lou Coen came up with the idea. McDonald's founder Ray Kroc wasn't convinced and devised a Hula Burger (grilled pineapple with cheese) as an alternative and challenged Coen to a competition. The highest-selling product would win.

The Filet-O-Fish won handily, selling 350 to...some very small number that Ray Kroc wouldn't admit. It was reportedly the first ever addition to the McDonald's menu. It was a huge hit among Catholics after that.

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gwaydms t1_j6lykxe wrote

Our local Catholic churches have Friday fish fries during Lent. Fish and chips/fries, hushpuppies, maybe cole slaw or potato salad. You don't have to be Catholic to pick up a plate. As Episcopalians we observe Lent also, and some of those churches have great fried fish.

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C4-BlueCat t1_j6m072u wrote

Ooh, is that why Thursday is a traditonal pancake day :o

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somethingkooky t1_j6lh03e wrote

Pancakes have eggs in them, or egg products (in the case of “just add water” mixes). Edit: apologies, I misread the post - I thought it was saying that Pancake Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday) was the first day of Lent.

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Whynotme23 t1_j6lherm wrote

Which is probably why he said the day before the first day of lent they have pancakes……..

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somethingkooky t1_j6lhohz wrote

I clearly know little to nothing about religion - I thought they were saying that pancakes were ok because they didn’t have eggs! (I read it as Tuesday being the first day of Lent.) Thanks for the info, TIL.

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mmgoodly t1_j6luoc4 wrote

They throw pancake breakfast events for fundraisers sometimes and I suspect this is the original time/explanation/excuse for those. See Frank Zappa's whimsically manic song "St. Alfonso's Pancake Breakfast" for a deconstruction of that kind of deal.

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Nitemiche t1_j6lokb0 wrote

Lenten abstinence from meat byproducts is no longer required for Latin-rite Catholics, although it is still mandatory in Eastern churches that are in union with Rome.

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