Commentary: When we were Catholic — Lent

My mother is Roman Catholic. She baptized and raised us as such. We attended Catholic schools from first to twelfth grade. Everything you can imagine in the 1960’s-70’s era of Catholicism, in a Latino home, we had it: Virgén de Guadalupe, St. Jude, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus statues. We had an altar under the niche in the stairwell. Wooden crucifixes, votives, rosary beads, and brown Scapulars dotted our rooms along with framed pictures of Pope Paul, John F. Kennedy and Cesar Chavez. The parish priest came to our house for dinner. That’s how Catholic we were in those days.

Now, three of the four of us are Christian and the other doesn’t affiliate with any denomination. We don’t practice the Lenten season as we used to ‘back in the day,’ the Roman Catholic way. But my mom still asks us every Ash Wednesday “Where are your ashes? Don’t you commemorate that Jesus died? Don’t you fast? Do you eat meat? Surely you give up something-chocolate? wine?”

She’s legally blind so we could lie and say we received ashes but they smudged, but come on who’d lie on Ash Wednesday. For a couple of years we’ve explained that our Christian denomination doesn’t practice the marking of ashes on the forehead, but that soon leads to an argument. It’s her way (the Catholic highway) or no way.

There is no use in arguing with my mother about religious doctrine versus Biblical scripture. So we look for common ground. Yes, we assure her that we do believe Christ died and rose again, we can fast, we can make this a season of service, and introspection.

“That’s good,” she says. “But what about the food?”

Yes, the Lenten food we made in the (Catholic) past will still be made during the Lenten season. But it’s not reserved for the Friday’s of Lent. The food has become part of our family tradition, except for the fish sticks.

When we were Catholic, we ate comida para la Cuaresma (Lenten food): tortitas de camaron (shrimp patties), nopales (cactus), chile rellenos and capriotada (bread pudding). We also ate a lot of potatoes, beans, and vegetable soup. But they weren’t half as good or as special as the aforementioned.

In the spirit of the Lenten season and to honor our family tradition we will continue to make comida para la Cuaresma. My favorite is capriotada and I know there are several ways to prepare this delicious dessert, but I like my sister Debbie’s recipe best.

Ingredients:

One large loaf of sliced French bread (regular or sour dough), piloncillo, dark brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, raisins, walnuts, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, and oil/butter or spray oil.

Pour 6 cups water in large saucepan, stir in piloncillo, 4 whole cinnamon sticks, and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Use medium heat and bring to a boil. If you want it sweeter, add another 1/2 cup brown sugar. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add raisins during last 3 minutes if you want them softer. Discard cinnamon sticks before pouring syrup on bread.

Coat a 13 x 9 ovenproof baking dish with cooking spray, butter or oil. Preheat oven to 350.

Layer bread in pan and pour on syrup, layer on grated jack cheese and walnuts. Proceed layering until the loaf of bread and all the syrup is gone. Bake for 30 minutes. If middle is too soggy, bake another 15 minutes.

Serve warm or chilled.

Some people use only pillocillo and no brown sugar, almonds, and Cotija cheese. Different regions in Mexico add pineapple, dried apricots, or other types of cheeses. It’s a matter of taste, just like it’s a matter of how you practice Lent.

— Mona AlvaradoFrazier is a writer and proprietor the BookNook in Downtown Sol, 328 W. Third St., Oxnard. To see more of her work, visit www.latinapen.blogspot.com