A Monday that doesn’t feel like Monday

Clean Monday is for me a day that combines the last scene of the Mary Poppins movie with a Mediterranean flair. Which is, pretty cool stuff for a Monday. On this day, I expect sunshine, kite-flying and pick-nick baskets, as well as grilled octopus, lagana, taramosalata, wine and traditional music. A movable feast, for which Greek people check their schedule months earlier, in order to organize a treasured escape that should smell and feel like springtime.

Apokries, the Greek carnival period with the Dionysian soul is giving its place to continence; the transition is unique. Outgoing and joyful, Clean Monday still carries the energy of ancient rituals for the fertility of the earth and the beginning of the spring, as well as the innerness of a special day for the Orthodox Church; a turning point towards a period of clean conscience, self-control and fasting: the Great Lent. The antithesis between the symbolism of the day and its open and warm character is something that I find extremely fascinating, and yet hard to describe; as hard to describe are the feelings that come up after the experience of a custom that is wrapped around so many layers of time and history.

Ι was thinking about all these, as I was preparing my favorite taramosalata recipe and a delicious semolina halva, sprinkled with a brave dose of cinnamon for this day. I don’t know if we are going to eat outside or fly a kite; it’s been a rainy weekend. But I know that spring is here, those magic hour purple skies are here, the bees and the lilies are here, the full of flavor fruits and vegetables are here.

photos by christos drazos