Why is Clean Monday celebrated in Greece?

For some, the answer is straightforward. Bearing in mind the clue of the white glory of the Cyclades Islands but, in this case, the reason behind the Greek Clean Monday celebration is rather different. Actually, Clean Monday (Kathara Deutera in Greek) is considered one of the most important annual religious feasts in Greece, inaugurating the 40-day period of the Easter Lent. There are two different explanations as to why this Monday is called ‘clean’. The first one comes from everyday life, as it says that women used to clean so many pots at the end of the carnival that they did not have time for anything else. The second one derives from the Orthodox Christian religion. After the consumption of large amounts of meat during the carnival, Clean Monday comes to clean and purify the body and soul and prepare believers for Easter.

The feast, which is a public holiday in Greece, is celebrated with outdoor excursions, the consumption of fasting food, as well as the custom of building and flying kites. Orthodox Christians traditionally abstain from eating meat, eggs and dairy products throughout Lent, with fish being eaten only on major feast days. The consumption of shellfish and molluscs though is permitted by the Greek Orthodox Church, thus creating the tradition of eating delicious dishes based on seafood, like cuttlefish, octopus, shrimp and mussels.

A typical Clean Monday menu includes a traditional dip made of the salted and cured roe from carp or cod, mixed with olive oil, lemon juice and breadcrumbs, called taramosalata, which is also part of the products consumed on Clean Monday. Instead of bread, tradition calls for lagana, a special kind of unleavened flatbread, baked only on that day. Black-eyed beans or just common baked beans, grape-leaf wrapped rice balls called dolma, and various seasonal salads complete the Clean Monday feast, along with some Greek wine, tsipouro or ouzo. As for dessert, tradition calls for halva, a variation on the familiar Arab dessert, made of tahini, sesame paste, sugar and often combined with nuts or chocolate and baked in a square or cylindrical shape.

So, are you ready to fly your kite over a Clean Monday picnic?