In the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition, fasting periods are called tsom, and they show up all through the church year, not just before Easter. During the Great Fast leading up to Fasika, the rules can be quite strict: no animal‑derived foods, and meals taken later in the day. Yet the everyday food that emerges from those rules—often called “fasting food”—is deeply flavorful.

Common threads:Legume‑based dishes (lentils, split peas, chickpeas) become the main protein.

Vegetable stews and sautéed greens stand in place of meat.

Injera is still the edible plate, but instead of doro wat and tibs, you’ll see it topped with an array of vegan wats and salads.What’s striking is the continuity: the same injera, the same berbere and niter‑kibbeh flavor profiles (minus the butter), the same communal platter. The ingredients change, but the way of eating—tearing, scooping, sharing—stays the same. Fasting doesn’t erase culture; it shifts which parts of the pantry get to speak.

Misir Wot: Lentils in Place of Chicken

If doro wat is the king of the Easter table, misir wot—spicy red lentil stew—is the everyday fasting counterpart. It’s built the same way:

Long‑cooked onions.

Berbere for heat and color.

Garlic, ginger, and a little tomato.

The difference is the protein:

lentils instead of chicken, and oil instead of spiced butter.

Quick Misir Wot (Ethiopian Red Lentil Stew, Vegan)

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 cup red lentils, rinsed

3 medium onions, very finely chopped

3 tablespoons neutral oil (or a mix of oil and a vegan butter substitute)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1–2 tablespoons berbere (adjust to heat preference)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3–4 cups of water or vegetable broth

Salt to taste

Directions

Cook down the onionsIn a heavy pot, heat the oil over medium. Add the finely chopped onions.

Cook slowly, stirring often, until they soften, reduce, and start to turn light golden. This can take 15–20 minutes; add a splash of water if they stick.

Add aromatics and berbere

Stir in the garlic and ginger; cook 1–2 minutes.

Add the berbere and cook another minute to toast the spices gently.

Tomato and lentils

Stir in the tomato paste and cook it into the mixture briefly.

Add the rinsed lentils and 3 cups of water or broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer.

Simmer until thick

Cook 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are soft and the stew is thick and velvety. Add more water if needed to reach your preferred consistency.Season with salt to taste.

Serve

Serve misir wot hot over injera, or with rice or flatbread if injera isn’t available.

Misir wot delivers many of the same sensory notes as doro wat—slow onions, deep red color, perfumed heat—but fits within Lenten fasting rules. It’s what sustains people during the long walk toward Easter.

Atakilt & Gomen: Vegetables as Centerpiece, Not Side

Two other staples of Ethiopian fasting tables are atakilt (braised cabbage, carrots, and potatoes) and gomen (stewed greens). They show how vegetables become the main act, not a side dish, when meat is off the menu.

Atakilt Alicha (Cabbage, Carrot & Potato)

This is a mild, turmeric‑tinted stew that contrasts beautifully with spicy lentil dishes.

Ingredients (serves 4)

3 tablespoons oil

1 onion, sliced

2 carrots, sliced

2 potatoes, cut in chunks

½ head green cabbage, sliced

1 teaspoon turmeric

Salt and pepper

½–1 cup water

Directions

Sauté onion in oil until soft.

Add carrots and potatoes; cook for a few minutes.

Stir in turmeric, then add cabbage and a splash of water.

Cover and cook on low until vegetables are tender, adding more water as needed.

Season with salt and pepper.

Served with injera alongside misir wot, atakilt turns a fasting meal into a full, color‑blocked platter.

Fasting vs. Feasting on the Same Cloth

If you set a fasting injera platter and a Fasika injera platter side by side, the visual contrast is strong:

During the fast: reds and golds from lentils and vegetables, no visible fat, no meat or eggs.

At Easter: darker, glossier stews like doro wat, hard‑boiled eggs, maybe lamb or beef dishes alongside.

But the deeper connection is that both are eaten:

From the same shared platter.With the same hands, the same bread, the same sense of community.

Can you imagine moving from one to the other after 55 days? It makes the Easter feast feel not just exotic, but earned.

When the new moon is sighted and Ramadan ends, the next day dawns as Eid al‑Fittr—“the festival of breaking the fast.” If Ramadan is a month of daytime restraint, Eid is a day of joyful permission. Many Muslim cultures begin Eid morning not with something savory, but with something sweet. That first sweet bite is symbolic: a gentle way of saying “the fast is over.”

In South Asia—India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, parts of Afghanistan—one of the most beloved Eid dishes is sheer khurma, literally “milk with dates.” It’s a rich vermicelli pudding: fine noodles fried in ghee, then simmered in milk with dates, nuts, sugar, and cardamom.

Families often cook it before dawn on Eid and serve it to relatives and guests all day long. In some homes, children will tell you: “Eid starts when we taste the sheer khurma.”

The dish echoes Ramadan itself. Dates, the fruit used to break the daily fast, take pride of place again, now surrounded by milk, nuts, and sweetness. Sheer khurma carries Persian and Central Asian influences into South Asian Muslim kitchens, showing how Ramadan and Eid have woven themselves into local culinary histories over centuries.

Sheer Khurma (Eid Vermicelli Pudding with Dates)

Ingredients (serves 6–8)

4 cups (1 liter) whole milk

1 cup fine roasted vermicelli (sevai / seviyan)

2–3 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter) or butter

8–10 soft dates, pitted and chopped

¼–½ cup sugar (to taste)

¼ cup mixed nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews), sliced or chopped

2 tablespoons raisins (optional)

3–4 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed (or ½ teaspoon ground cardamom)

A few strands of saffron soaked in 1–2 tablespoons of warm milk (optional)

*If your vermicelli isn’t pre‑roasted, you’ll lightly roast it in the ghee.

Directions

Pour the milk into a heavy‑bottomed pot and bring it to a gentle simmer over low–medium heat, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t scorch.

In a separate pan, melt the ghee over medium heat. Add the vermicelli and roast, stirring constantly, until it turns light golden and smells nutty. (If using pre‑roasted vermicelli, just warm it through in the ghee.)

Add the roasted vermicelli to the simmering milk, along with the chopped dates and cardamom. Cook, stirring, for 8–12 minutes, until the vermicelli is soft and the mixture has thickened slightly.

Stir in the sugar, nuts, raisins (if using), and saffron milk (if using). Taste and adjust sweetness. Simmer for a few more minutes.Serve warm or at room temperature. The pudding will thicken as it cools; loosen with a splash of warm milk if needed.

In our “Feasts and Fasts” series, sheer khurma is a beautiful parallel to Easter cakes or Passover desserts: a sweet dish reserved for the moment the fast gives way to celebration.

Whether it’s Eid, Easter, or the end of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, many traditions choose to mark the first morning after fasting with something sweet—because, after a season of “no,” the first “yes” should taste like joy.

In the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Easter is called Fasika, and it’s the most important feast of the year.

The feast, however, makes sense only when you see what comes before it.

For about 55 days prior to Easter, many Ethiopian Orthodox Christians observe Hudade (also called the Great Fast or Abiy Tsom), a Lenten‑like period that combines several fasts into one long season.

During this time, the faithful traditionally avoid meat, dairy, and often eggs, eating one or two simple vegan meals a day after noon. The focus is on prayer, repentance, and spiritual discipline.

When Easter finally arrives, the mood turns completely:

Families attend long overnight church services on Holy Saturday that can last into the early hours of Easter Sunday.

After the liturgy, they go home to break the long fast with meat for the first time in weeks, beginning with chicken or lamb—animals often slaughtered and prepared specifically for Fasika.

The table features communal platters of injera topped with stews (wats) and shared by hand.

The centerpiece is usually doro wat, a dark, spicy chicken stew enriched with niter kibbeh (spiced clarified butter) and berbere, served with hard‑boiled eggs. Breaking a 55‑day vegan fast with such a dish makes Fasika feel more like resurrection in the mouth than just a nice Sunday dinner.

Doro Wat: The “Welcome Back” Chicken Stew

Doro wat (also spelled doro wot or dorro wat) is often described as Ethiopia’s national dish and is essential at major feasts, especially Fasika.

It starts with:

A huge quantity of onions, cooked down slowly until soft and sweet.

Berbere, a complex chili‑based spice blend that brings heat and depth.

Niter kibbeh, a clarified butter infused with spices like cardamom, fenugreek, and garlic.

Chicken pieces simmered until tender, with hard‑boiled eggs added near the end.

At Fasika, doro wat is more than just tasty. After a long vegan fast, it’s:

A symbolic return of meat and dairy to the table.

A sign of hospitality and celebration, often served to honored guests.

A way of embodying Easter joy—richness and warmth after a season of restraint.

Traditionally, everyone eats together from a shared injera‑lined platter, tearing off pieces of bread to scoop up the stew. It’s communal, tactile, and reverent.

Shortcut Doro Wat (Home‑Friendly)

Authentic doro wat can be an all‑day project, especially if you’re making berbere and niter kibbeh from scratch. This version keeps the core flavors but simplifies the process for a home kitchen.

Ingredients (serves 4–6)

For the stew

2–3 tablespoons neutral oil (or a mix of oil and butter)

3–4 large onions, very finely chopped (or pulsed in a food processor)

3–4 cloves garlic, minced

1–2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

2–3 tablespoons berbere spice blend (to taste)

2–3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 whole chicken cut into pieces (or ~2 pounds bone‑in chicken thighs/drumsticks)

2–3 cups water or chicken broth (as needed)Salt and black pepper

For finishing

2–3 tablespoons niter kibbeh (Ethiopian spiced butter) or regular butter/ghee

*4–6 hard‑boiled eggs, peeled and scored lightly

*If you don’t have niter kibbeh, you can approximate it by gently warming butter with a pinch of cardamom, fenugreek, garlic, and a bay leaf, then straining.

Directions

Sweat the onions (the key step)

Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat.

Add the finely chopped onions. Cook slowly, stirring often, until the onions lose their moisture and turn soft, reduced, and lightly golden. This can take 20–30 minutes—don’t rush it.

If they start to stick, add a splash of water and keep going.

Add garlic, ginger, and berbereAdd the minced garlic and grated ginger; cook another 1–2 minutes.

Stir in the berbere and cook for a couple of minutes more to toast the spices gently. Adjust the amount depending on how hot your berbere is and how much heat you like.

Tomato and chickenAdd the tomato paste and cook it into the onion mixture for a minute or two.

Add the chicken pieces and stir to coat them well in the spicy onion mixture.

Pour in enough water or broth to just cover the chicken.

Bring to a gentle simmer.

Simmer until tender

Cover and cook on low heat for about 30–45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and tender and the sauce has thickened.

Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Finish with spiced butter and eggs

Stir in the niter kibbeh (or your spiced butter/ghee). This gives the stew its signature glossy richness.

Add the hard‑boiled eggs, scored lightly so the sauce can cling, and let them warm through in the stew for a few minutes.

Serve

Serve the doro wat hot on top of a large piece of injera, or with injera on the side for scooping.

If you can’t get injera, you can serve it with flatbreads or even rice, but for a Fasika‑themed meal, injera is ideal.

Injera: The Sour Bread That Holds It All

In Ethiopia, doro wat isn’t eaten with forks and knives. It’s eaten with injera, a large, tangy, spongy flatbread made traditionally from fermented teff flour.

Injera acts as:

Plate: one large round injera lines the serving platter.

Utensil: smaller pieces are torn off to scoop up the stew.

Side dish: its sourness balances the richness of dishes like doro wat.

Traditional injera is a multi‑day fermentation process.  Making a quick “injera‑inspired” flatbread using a mix of teff and wheat flour with baking powder and yogurt/lemon for sourness (acknowledging this as an approximation rather than authentic).

Fasika is a striking mirror to everything we’ve been exploring:

Lent: You’ve looked at soups and meatless dishes Christians eat during Lent. Ethiopian Orthodox believers take that even further with a long vegan fast—then swing all the way back into meat and dairy on Easter.

Ramadan & Eid: Just as Muslims move from daily fasting to Eid feasts like sheer khurma and rich dishes, Ethiopian Christians move from Hudade to Fasika and dishes like doro wat. Both traditions mark the end of fasting with a consciously rich, communal table.

Passover & Unleavened Bread: Where Passover leans on unleavened, simple breads to remember suffering and freedom, Fasika leans on spiced butter and long‑simmered stews to celebrate resurrection and release from abstinence.

If suhoor is the quiet beginning of a fasting day, iftar is its joyful release. At sunset in Ramadan, as soon as the call to the Maghrib prayer echoes, Muslims around the world reach for the same two simple things: dates and water. This small act connects them directly to the example of the Prophet Muhammad, who is reported to have broken his fast with fresh dates (or dried dates, or water when dates weren’t available). That first bite and sip mark the exact moment the day’s hunger ends.

From there, iftar blossoms into a fuller meal. In many homes and mosques, the progression is gentle: dates, water, maybe a few pieces of fruit or some juice, then a light soup, followed by a more substantial main course. Across the Middle East and North Africa, a humble lentil soup is one of the most common first dishes. It’s easy to digest on an empty stomach and offers warmth, protein, and comfort.

Iftar is as much about community and charity as it is about food. Families invite relatives, friends, and neighbors. Mosques host communal iftars for anyone in need. Streets in some cities transform into nightly food festivals.

On our “Feasts and Fasts” map, iftar sits alongside Lenten soup suppers and church potlucks: a shared table that makes a spiritual practice feel communal, not lonely.

Red Lentil Iftar Soup

This simple soup is inspired by common iftar tables across the Arab world. It’s quick, gentle on the stomach, and easy to scale.

Ingredients (serves 4–6)

1 cup red lentils, rinsed

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground turmeric or mild paprika

1 small carrot, chopped (optional)

1 small potato, chopped (optional)

5 cups water or vegetable/chicken broth

Salt and black pepper

To serve: lemon wedges and extra olive oil

Directions

Warm the olive oil in a pot over medium heat.

Add the chopped onion and cook until soft and translucent.

Stir in the garlic and cook briefly.Add the cumin and turmeric/paprika.

Stir for a few seconds until fragrant.Add the rinsed lentils, carrot, potato (if using), and water or broth.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20–25 minutes, until the lentils are very soft.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

For a smoother texture, blend part or all of the soup with an immersion blender.

Ladle into bowls.

Drizzle with a little olive oil and serve with lemon wedges for squeezing at the table.

How Muslims Eat Before Dawn During Ramadan

Long before most of the world wakes up, Muslim kitchens glow softly in the dark. Pots simmer, kettles steam, and families gather around the table for suhoor—the quiet pre‑dawn meal eaten before each day’s fast in Ramadan begins. Suhoor isn’t just “breakfast at a weird hour.” It is considered a blessed, encouraged practice: a way to nourish the body and prepare the heart before a long day without food or drink.

Around the world, the shape of suhoor changes. In some homes, it looks like a traditional breakfast—flatbreads, eggs, yogurt, olives, fruit. In others, it leans savory and hearty, with leftover stews, beans, or rice. But most suhoor tables share a few themes: slow‑release carbohydrates for steady energy, protein and healthy fats for fullness, and plenty of water to ease the hours ahead. The atmosphere is often gentle and focused; people eat, pray, and then slip into the day’s routine with a sense of intention.

Suhoor belongs firmly on our “Feasts and Fasts” map: it’s a modest feast before a daily fast—like a quieter, everyday echo of Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday, but repeated for an entire month.

Suhoor‑Style Savory Oat and Egg Bowls

This is a flexible bowl you can adapt to many pantries. It combines whole grains, protein, vegetables, and healthy fats—exactly the balance many nutritionists recommend for suhoor.

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 cup rolled oats

2 cups water or milk (or half and half)

2 eggs (boiled, poached, or fried)

1 small cucumber, chopped

1 small tomato, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

2–4 tablespoons plain yogurt or labneh (optional)

Salt and black pepper

To serve: dates, and plenty of water or herbal tea

Directions

In a small pot, combine the oats and water/milk. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring, until creamy and thick. Season lightly with salt.

While the oats cook, prepare the eggs in your preferred style: boiled, poached, or fried in a little olive oil.

In a bowl, toss the chopped cucumber and tomato with a drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of salt, and pepper.

To assemble, divide the oats between two bowls. Top each with an egg, some of the cucumber‑tomato salad, an extra drizzle of olive oil, and a spoon of yogurt or labneh if you like.

Serve with a few dates on the side and a large glass of water or herbal tea.

—Whether you fast for Ramadan or not try a suhoor‑style breakfast once.  Eat this kind of bowl in the quiet early hours and pay attention to how it feels to start the day with purpose.

Lent has a reputation for being all about giving things up—meat, chocolate, social media, you name it. But step into a Maltese bakery or a British kitchen in the weeks before Easter, and you’ll find something surprisingly lush: sweets made for the fasting season. These aren’t random cookies and buns. They’re desserts shaped by centuries of church rules, peasant creativity, and the human need to mark sacred time with food.

In this post, we’ll dive into two of the most evocative Lenten sweets: kwareżimal, the dense, almond‑rich Lenten biscuit of Malta, and hot cross buns, the spiced, cross‑topped rolls that show up on Good Friday.

We’ll talk about where they came from, why they look the way they do, and how you can bake them at home.

Why Lenten Sweets Exist at All

At first glance, “Lenten dessert” sounds like a contradiction. Historically, Lent in many Christian traditions meant serious restrictions: no meat, and in many places no eggs, butter, or other animal fats either. Those rules were meant to train the body and soul in self‑denial and solidarity with the poor.

But even in a fasting season, people still needed calories and comfort. Two patterns emerged:

Sweets that obeyed the rules
Cooks leaned on nuts, flour, sugar, fruits, spices, and plant‑based fats instead of eggs and butter. That’s where Maltese kwareżimal lives: an intensely flavored biscuit designed to be Lenten‑legal.

Sweets saved for the end
Other recipes became tied to the end of Lent, when restrictions lifted. Hot cross buns aren’t for the whole season; they’re for Good Friday, right on the edge of Easter.

Both patterns reveal the same insight: humans don’t just fast; we frame our fasting with ritual foods. The desserts of Lent are a kind of edible theology, carrying meaning in ingredients, shapes, and timing.

Kwareżimal: Almond Cookies Built for Fasting

A brief history from a tiny island

Malta sits in the middle of the Mediterranean, between Sicily and North Africa—a crossroads where Arab, Italian, and Catholic influences have collided for centuries. Kwareżimal is one of the most distinctively Maltese things to come out of that mix.

The name comes from the Latin/Italian Quadragesima / Quaresima, meaning “the forty days” of Lent.

Old‑style recipes were deliberately austere in terms of church rules: no eggs, no butter, and often no animal fat at all.

Instead, they rely heavily on ground almonds, flour, sugar, citrus, and spices. Almonds give richness without breaking the fast, and citrus and blossom water bring perfume in place of butter.

Food historians and Maltese writers trace the biscuit back at least to the time of the Knights of St. John (16th–18th centuries).

The story goes that the Knights prepared kwareżimal during Lent and distributed it to the poor—a way of turning fasting foods into an act of charity. Whether or not this was universally practiced, the association stuck: these biscuits are inseparable from Maltese Lent.

You’ll usually see them appear in pastry shops and home kitchens from Ash Wednesday through Holy Week, often alongside other seasonal sweets. They’re dense, chewy, and rustic—more “energy bar meets medieval biscotti” than delicate patisserie. But they’re full of flavor.What makes a biscuit “Lenten”?

A traditional kwareżimal recipe is a masterclass in working around restrictions:

No eggs, no butter – respecting older Lenten bans on animal products.

Almonds as fat and protein – they supply richness and satiety.

Citrus zest and orange blossom water – bring fragrance and a sense of celebration without breaking rules.

Honey glaze and nuts – sweet, but still simple; no cream or dairy.

In other words, it’s a dessert that says: “We’re fasting—but we’re not joyless.”

Recipe: Kwareżimal (Maltese Lenten Almond Cookies)

This version stays close to the traditional profile: no eggs, no butter, lots of almonds and citrus.

Ingredients (10–12 bars)

2 cups (about 200 g) ground almonds

1 ½ cups (180–200 g) all‑purpose or self‑raising flour

½–¾ cup (100–150 g) sugar (adjust to your sweetness preference)

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (optional but common in modern recipes)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon mixed spice or a pinch of ground cloves

Zest of 1 orange

Zest of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons orange blossom (orange flower) water (or just more orange juice if you can’t find it)

2–3 tablespoons neutral oil or mild olive oil

About ½ cup (120 ml) orange juice and/or water, added gradually

Honey, for brushing

A small handful of chopped almonds, pistachios, or other nuts, for topping

Directions

Prep the oven and trayHeat your oven to 350°F / 180°C.

Line a baking tray with parchment.

Mix the dry ingredientsIn a large bowl, combine ground almonds, flour, sugar, cocoa (if using), cinnamon, mixed spice/cloves, and both citrus zests.

Stir well so the spices and zests are evenly distributed.

Add liquids and form the dough

Add the orange blossom water and oil; stir.

Add orange juice/water a little at a time, mixing with a spoon or your hand until a soft, slightly sticky dough forms. It should hold together when pressed, but not be wet or runny.Shape the biscuits

Lightly flour your hands.Take portions of dough and form oblong bars about 3 x 1 inches (8 x 3 cm) and roughly ½ inch (1–1.5 cm) thick.

Place on the tray with some space between; they won’t spread much but need airflow.

Bake

Bake for 20–30 minutes, depending on thickness, until the edges are lightly browned and the tops look set. They should still give a little in the center—they firm as they cool.

Glaze and decorate

While the kwareżimal are still warm, brush the tops generously with honey.

Sprinkle with chopped nuts so they stick to the honey.

Let cool completely on the tray or a rack.

They keep well for several days, and the flavors often deepen by the next day, which makes them perfect for a make‑ahead Lenten treat.

On Fish Fridays, your plate carries more than dinner; it carries centuries of politics, piety, and the occasional royal power move.

From royal policy to parish fish fry.  In 1563, Elizabeth I’s chief adviser, William Cecil, pushed Parliament to bring back strict “fish days,” not to make England holier, but to make it stronger at sea.

The Reformation had relaxed many Catholic fast-day rules, people were eating more meat on traditional fish days, and England’s fishing industry—and with it, its pool of experienced sailors—was shrinking.

Cecil’s idea was simple: mandate abstinence from meat on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and you force the kingdom to eat more fish, supporting coastal economies and keeping the navy’s future recruits in constant practice.

He even spelled it out: “Let the old course of fishing be maintained by the straitest observations of fish days… so the sea coasts should be strong with men and habitations and the fleet flourish more than ever.”

These Elizabethan laws were framed explicitly as economic and political rather than devotional; Cecil added a note reassuring more Puritan-minded Protestants that the measure was not a return to “popish” superstition but national policy.

Still, the effect looked remarkably similar to the old medieval pattern: on certain days, the English table turned from beef and mutton to cod, herring, and whatever “counted” as fish, from carp to porpoise.

Catholic “Fish Friday,” by contrast, is older and more spiritual in origin. For centuries Christians marked Friday as a weekly remembrance of Christ’s crucifixion, choosing small acts of penance like abstaining from the warm‑blooded meat associated with feasting and celebration.

The Church drew a symbolic line between land animals and fish; flesh from warm‑blooded creatures was off the table on fast days, while fish, as cold‑blooded and less “festive,” was permitted.

Over time, this discipline spread widely: in much of Europe, Friday became a fish day as naturally as Sunday was a feast day.

Modern Catholics in the United States are now obliged to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent, while outside Lent they are still called to do some form of Friday penance, with many choosing to keep the old fish‑on‑Friday tradition year‑round.

Along the way, that simple rule reshaped food culture: church fish fries in the Midwest, seasonal fast‑food fish sandwiches, and family tables where tuna casseroles, salmon patties, or shrimp boils marked the end of the week.

The myth that some medieval pope mandated fish to bail out Italian fishmongers is persistent, but Catholic historians point out that the real example of policy‑driven fish eating comes from Elizabeth I’s England, not Rome.

So when you sit down to a Fish Friday dinner—whether in a parish hall in Tennessee or your own kitchen—you’re at the crossroads of these stories: a queen using fish to build a navy, a Church using abstinence to shape a weekly spiritual rhythm, and generations of cooks figuring out how to make those meals not just dutiful, but delicious.

A modern Fish Friday menu

For this Fish Friday blog, we’ll build a simple, balanced plate:

Sesame‑seared ahi tuna, sliced and served warm

Steamed rice, fluffy and lightly seasoned

A bright Japanese‑style cucumber salad (sunomono) for crunch and acidThis trio nods to Japanese flavors while still feeling at home on an American weeknight table, especially in a place like Tennessee where fish fries, Lent, and Friday seafood specials all overlap in local food culture.

Sesame-seared ahi tuna with citrus-soy drizzle

This recipe gives you a restaurant‑style sear: deeply browned sesame crust on the outside, tender and rosy in the center.

Ingredients (serves 2–3)

2 ahi tuna steaks, about 6–8 oz each, 1–1.5 inches thick, sushi‑grade if serving very rare

2 tablespoons soy sauce (or tamari)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon or lime juice

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons neutral high‑heat oil (avocado, canola, or grape seed)

3 tablespoons of sesame seeds (white, black, or a mix)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

Optional garnish:

1–2 green onions, thinly sliced

A handful of cilantro leaves

Sriracha mayo (mix mayonnaise with sriracha to taste) or extra soy + citrus

Instructions

Whisk the marinade.
In a small bowl, whisk the soy sauce, citrus juice, sesame oil, garlic powder, about 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and several grinds of black pepper.

This marinade is bold but brief; it perfumes the outside of the fish without “cooking” it like a long soak would.

Marinate the tuna lightly.

Pat the tuna steaks dry and lay them in a shallow dish.

Pour the marinade over, turning to coat all sides.

Cover and refrigerate for 10–20 minutes while you prep the rice and cucumber salad.

Flip once halfway through so both sides take on flavor.

Prepare the sesame crust.

On a plate, combine the sesame seeds, remaining salt, and the rest of the black pepper.

When the tuna comes out of the marinade, let excess drip off, then roll each steak in the sesame mixture, pressing gently so the seeds cling to every surface.

Heat the pan until very hot.

Set a heavy skillet (cast iron or stainless) over medium‑high to high heat and add the neutral oil.

When the oil shimmers and just begins to wisp smoke, the pan is ready.

A hot pan is crucial for a crisp crust and rare center.

Sear the ahi.
Gently lay the tuna steaks in the pan. Sear for about 45–60 seconds on the first side without moving them, until the sesame is golden and fragrant.

Flip and sear another 45–60 seconds for rare, or up to 90 seconds per side for medium‑rare; you can briefly sear the edges by holding the steaks with tongs.

The center should still feel soft when you press it with a finger.Rest and slice.
Transfer the tuna to a cutting board and let it rest for 2–3 minutes. Using a sharp knife, slice across the grain into 1/4–1/2‑inch slices.

Taste a piece and adjust with a sprinkle of salt or a few drops of soy if needed.Plate.
Fan the slices over a bed of hot rice or alongside the cucumber salad. Sprinkle with green onion and cilantro, and drizzle with a bit of sriracha mayo or reserved citrus‑soy for color and heat.

Steamed rice for Fish Friday

This rice is intentionally simple so it soaks up the juices from both tuna and salad.

Ingredients

1 cup jasmine or short‑grain white rice

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water (check your rice type)

1/4 teaspoon salt

Optional: 1 teaspoon rice vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon sugar for a subtle sushi‑rice vibe

Instructions

Rinse the rice.
Place the rice in a bowl, cover with cold water, swish, and drain; repeat 2–3 times until the water is less cloudy. This removes excess starch and keeps the grains from clumping.

Cook.
Add rinsed rice, measured water, and salt to a small pot. Bring to a gentle boil, then cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 12–15 minutes without lifting the lid, until water is absorbed.

Steam off heat.
Turn off the heat and let the rice sit, covered, for 10 minutes. If using vinegar and sugar, warm them together just enough to dissolve, then gently fold through the rice with a fork.

Fluff.
Fluff with a fork and keep covered until you’re ready to plate under your tuna.

Bright Japanese-style cucumber salad (sunomono)

This salad gives you crunch, acid, and a bit of sweetness—perfect against the rich tuna and plain rice. It’s inspired by Japanese sunomono, a simple vinegar‑dressed cucumber dish that often appears alongside fish.

Ingredients (serves 2–3)

1 large English cucumber, or 2 small Japanese/Persian cucumbers

1/2 tablespoon salt, divided

1/2 tablespoon sugar (or a bit more to taste)

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon toasted white sesame seeds

Optional add‑ons (feel free to pick one for variety, especially if this is the only side):

A few pieces of wakame seaweed, rehydrated and chopped

A small handful of thinly sliced red onion

A few radish rounds for extra color

Instructions

Slice and salt the cucumbers.
Thinly slice the cucumbers into coins using a knife or mandoline.

Place in a bowl, sprinkle with about 1/4 tablespoon of the salt, toss, and let sit 5–10 minutes to draw out water.

Drain and squeeze.
Transfer cucumbers to a colander, rinse briefly to remove excess salt, then squeeze handfuls firmly to remove as much liquid as possible.

This step is key to getting a crisp, not watery, salad.

Make the dressing.

In a small bowl, whisk together rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, and the remaining pinch of salt until the sugar dissolves.

Taste: it should be bright, lightly sweet, and pleasantly salty; adjust sugar or vinegar to your liking.

Combine.

Add the cucumbers (and any optional wakame, onion, or radish) to the dressing and toss gently to coat.

Let sit 5–10 minutes so the flavors meld.Finish.
Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds just before serving.

Serve chilled or at cool room temperature alongside the tuna and rice.Bringing the stories to the table.

When you put this Fish Friday plate together—seared ahi, steamed rice, and a tangy cucumber salad—you’re quietly stitching together several food histories at once. The ahi and rice lean toward Japanese flavors, where a simple set meal might pair grilled or seared fish, plain rice, and a vinegar‑bright vegetable dish much like this sunomono.

The Friday abstinence itself, though, traces back to Christian communities marking the crucifixion with a small but regular sacrifice, choosing fish instead of meat as an embodied weekly prayer.

In Tudor England, those habits became raw material for national strategy, as Elizabeth I’s ministers turned “fish days” into a tool to keep fishermen working and sailors ready for conflict at sea.

In modern America, they’ve morphed again into parish fish fries, school cafeteria menus, and home traditions where families know, almost instinctively, that Friday dinner should look a little different.

Cooking a Fish Friday meal like this one lets you participate in that long, evolving story—only now, your abstinence can be generous rather than grim. Instead of a plain piece of boiled fish, you get crackling sesame crust, jewel‑bright slices of tuna, rice that catches all the juices, and cucumbers that snap like a palate cleanser between bites. Whether you’re observing Lent, keeping a weekly rhythm, or just leaning into a good story as you cook, this plate gives you both: history on the page and hospitality on the plate.