Alligator OK to eat on Lenten Fridays, archbishop clarifies

  • Thread starter Thread starter Maxirad
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
maltmom said:
Tigg;10393752:
I actually ate alligator that had been deep fried in some batter in Lafayette, Louisiana! It was crunchy and yummy. Sadly, we’re a very long way from any calabash. Isn’t that what you call your seafood restaurants in the south?
Click to expand...
I’ve never heard of the word calabash and I’m from Louisiana.
Click to expand...
:rotfl:

Calabash is the self-proclaimed “Seafood Capital of the World” but restaurant it ain’t.
 
Lochias said:
But you still don’t know what else those people may have given up. When St. Theresa of Avila (I think?) and her nuns had nothing to eat one day, someone generously gave them some pheasant to eat…on a Friday in Lent.

She had the nun doing the cooking get the bird ready anyway. When the nun said, shocked, “But Sister…it’s Friday!”, St. Theresa replied “Lent is Lent, and pheasant is pheasant.”

You can never tell what other people have given up or are going through. That wonderful fish dinner may be the only bright spot in their week. I’d say, concentrate on your own fasting and sacrifice, and if others feel called to do so by your example, you’ll be accomplishing a lot more than you would by looking down your nose at those who go to fish fries.
Click to expand...
I am so happy that amid all the gastronomic chatter somebody (by post 49) finally recognized that the subject was Lent.
 
Dale_M said:
How does that work? Is it like lobster, where they bring you the entire tail, and you spoon out the tender, tasty part while leaving the hard, inedible outer shell? I could see where that would get a little awkward, even messy, if the tail was very large. Is the tail eaten as a common dish, or does everyone get their own?
Click to expand...
laughing so hard I’m crying and can barely breathe :rotfl:

I am a born and bred Southern gal, in Florida, right close to the Georgia State line. Gator is delish. 🙂 It’s served either like a steak, (yes they just slice it up), or as breaded fried nuggets. It does taste a lot like chicken. I promise. 😃 However, I personally would abstain from it, since it DOES taste like chicken. Too meat-like to be considered a non-meat (to me at least). I’ll stick to my okra and tomatoes. No mistaking that. LOL 👍
 
Lochias said:
That’s a valid viewpoint to take. But those who are going to fish fries on Friday during Lent are still following the instructions of the Church, and we can’t just toss a blanket condemnation over them because we don’t think they’re being penitential enough. We have no idea what kind of suffering and sacrifice they may already be going through.
Click to expand...
This is a great example that touches on the spirituality of a lot of Catholics.
  1. The Church venerates Lent as a season pf penitence in preparation for Holy Week and Easter.
  2. People say, “That’s a great idea. How can I do it?”
  3. The Church offers some ancient practices (Prayer, Almsgiving, Fasting, Good works, Reading of Scripture).
  4. People say, “O.K. I’ll do that…What’s the least I can do without crossing the line?”
    Is it possible that this mentality, based on obedience, is getting in the way of a truly spiritual opportunity?
 
maltmom said:
Thanks, I’ve never heard of Calabash, NC. I wonder you declared that they are the seafood capital of the world. 👍
Click to expand...
Thank Bing. I had to look it up.

I live nearby both the Garlic Capital of the World and the Artichoke Capital of the World. Can you name either without a search engine?

BTW, searching for “Seafood Capital of the World” returns several claimants for the throne. At least three are on the Eastern Seaboard, alone. Calabash has the most hits, however.
 
rhmom said:
Chicken nuggets (at McD) came out when I was living in Europe - yes they did have them there, and back then, yes I did eat them
Click to expand...
:rotfl: That was social commentary on the kinds of things we allow ourselves to eat. I didn’t really think that Europe was lacking McNuggets.
 
Tigg said:
Thank you!

All I remember is driving down the streets of Louisiana and seeing calabash this and calabash that!
Click to expand...
My family has been here for 10’000 years and I have never heard of Calabash before.
 
Texas Gatorfest 2013: September 12-15, Anahuac, TX. Gator meat for all!
 
So gators are good for Lent? Sweet! 🙂
How about crocodiles, then? 🙂
 
It’s not just gators.
According to Jimmy Akin, local rules allow eating aquatic mammals; capybaras in S. America; otter, beaver & muskrat in some US dioceses.

Akin doesn’t mention it but I read somewhere the beaver exception came about because Native Americans classified all water creatures together, lumping beavers & fish together.
 
So…reptiles aren’t considered meat? Amphibians? So, just mammals are considered meat, but not aquatic mammals? I’m surprised by this. Can’t people just eat toasted cheese one day a week?!
 
coco2 said:
So…reptiles aren’t considered meat? Amphibians? So, just mammals are considered meat, but not aquatic mammals? I’m surprised by this. Can’t people just eat toasted cheese one day a week?!
Click to expand...
Mammals, avians, and anything else that is warm blooded. Exceptions for aquatic mammals are local only. Unfortunately even Christendoms most strict rules of abstinence from meat don’t ban shellfish, so crawfish boils (read: parties) are still acceptable. Remember the words of President Grover Cleveland, “No man has ever yet been hanged for breaking the spirit of a law.”:rolleyes:
 
Inego_de_Loyola said:
Mammals, avians, and anything else that is warm blooded. Exceptions for aquatic mammals are local only. Unfortunately even Christendoms most strict rules of abstinence from meat don’t ban shellfish, so crawfish boils (read: parties) are still acceptable. Remember the words of President Grover Cleveland, “No man has ever yet been hanged for breaking the spirit of a law.”:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Yes, because God forbid anyone should smile during Lent. :rolleyes:
 
Lucky7 said:
I’m sorry, but when was alligator ever acceptable to eat?

Yuck.
Click to expand...
C’mon man. Really? It tastes great especially if ya know how to cook it (don’t ask me I ain’t to good)

God bless
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top