Lenten Feasts

These must have constituted severe penitence in the Old World, but in Mexico, there existed a culinary culture unimagined in Europe. It's hard to conceive of a world without corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, chilis, peppers, potatoes, peanuts, pineapples, avocados, papaya, not to mention chocolate, vanilla, tobacco, and chewing gum.

The Spanish weren't entirely successful in their spiritual conquest of the continent; they found it necessary to adapt their teachings and co-opt existing customs and practices. In many communities Lent provides a reason for a fiesta, rather than its prohibition, There's the First Friday fiesta in Huazollotitlan, the Fourth Friday in Huazpala and in the City of Oaxaca, there are the Paseos de los Viernes de Cuaresma.

College boys gather around the Paseo Juarez in Llano Park every Friday of Lent at 7 a.m. to organize a promenade in which young women receive flowers and cards while a brass band plays happy tunes

The fusion of Lent and traditional Mexican culinary practices has a unique and delicious tradition that is more feast than famine. Many dishes that are unique to the Mexican culture were created specifically to take the place of meat and to provide a substantial meal when that was the only one of the day.

Fish and seafood are obviously plentiful and can be prepared in countless ways. Traditional Lenten dishes include shrimp and seafood soups and stews, such as Caldo Michi, prepared with fish heads and red snapper or sea bass and lots of vegetables; croquettes with dried shrimp; Red Snapper Veracruz style and Bacalao a la Vizcaina, a dish made from salted cod which is also a Christmas staple.

All vegetables can be eaten during Lent, among the most popular vegetables are squash. often sun-dried and cooked with onion, garlic and tomatoes and topped with melted cheese.

But the food most closely associated with the Lenten season is nopalitos, the tender, young pads of the edible prickly pear cactus.

This is a remarkably versatile vegetable and it's highly nutritious.They are high in vitamins A and C, as well as B complex vitamins and iron. They are often used in blended health drinks and many people claim it effective in weight-loss diets.

You can buy nopales as entire pads or diced and packaged in neatly tied plastic bags for a quick, rinse and serve dish. Some people like to eat them raw in salads, but they are delicious cooked. Boiled, their taste is often compared to that of green beans. Grilled, nopales have a delicious, distinctive flavor of their own, especially good with grilled meat.

To boil nopales, wash them and cut them into small squares or strips, if they have not been purchased this way. Place them in a pot with cold water to cover, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 10-15 Nopalitos can be prepared with scrambled egg, fried with onion, tomatoes and cilantro (coriander), served on a tortilla, folded and eaten like a taco.

Nopales can also be cut into strips, batter-dipped and rolled in bread crumbs, cornmeal or flour, and fried like french fries. And cooked nopales are a great addition to soups, stews and salads. Here's a simple recipe :

Ensalada de Nopalitos (Nopalito Salad)

• 3 cups cooked nopales (nopalitos)
• 3 tablespoons chopped white onion
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice or vinegar

• 3 tomatoes, sliced
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/3 cup crumbled queso fresco or añejo or Monterey jack cheese
• 1/3 cup purple onion rings
• 3 canned chilies jalapeños en escabeche, cut into quarters lengthwise
• 1 avocado, peeled and sliced, romaine lettuce for the side of the serving platter (optional)

Spread the nopalitos over the platter about 1 1/2 inches deep. Decorate with the tomatoes slices and top with cilantro, cheese, onion rings, chile strips, and slices of avocado.

Overlap the romaine leaves around the edges of the platter and serve at room temperature.