Ash Wednesday © (Jennifer Balaska (2009) / Wikimedia Commons)
Ash Wednesday is the start of a period known as Lent in the Christian Church yearly calendar. During this period, special food rules traditionally applied.
The day of Ash Wednesday is a day of repentance. Palm crosses from the previous year’s Palm Sunday are burnt to produce ashes used to mark the foreheads of church goers as a sign of penitence.
All eggs, dairy, and meat in the house had to be used by before today.
Fish was on the approved list of foods for the Lent fasting period, so a traditional British dish for Ash Wednesday was fish pie.
Now, many people choose to give up one thing for Lent, typically a favourite thing such as chocolate, or wine.
#AshWednesday
Other fasting holidays: Yom Kippur, Ieiunium cereris