In general, people
living in villages that are now situated in the
area of the Park and its vicinity fasted (dial. "smo
držali puast"), i.e. abstained from meat
at times of major economic, political and social
changes in the second half of the 20th century,
every Friday of the week and, above all, on the
occasion of Christmas Eve (dial. "viljo
bžičnuo", "božičnuo viljuo"),
Ash Wednesday (dial. "pepelnicuo", "peppeunico")
and Easter Friday (dial. "velki pj'tk", "veliki
pj'tk"). However, they did not notice a
great difference since meat was not on the table
every day. During the week, potato or bean minestrone
was often eaten (dial. "kr'mpj'r in f'žu")
as well as hashed potatoes (dial. "kr'mpj'r
z'ru'št'n", "kr'mpj'r u kazici").
They sometimes treated themselves to polenta
with sausage (dial. "palj'nta s klobasuo")
and on Sundays with the so-called "dry soup",
i.e. soup from dried pork (among others smoked
pork, pork bones, dried chine, leg etc).
According
to the local inhabitants, the most common Lenten
food included kale and salt cod (dial. "št'kviš", "stokviš", "bakala")
that homemakers had purchased at reasonable prices
a month or two beforehand in Trieste or in a nearby
shop. There were exceptions, however, and it often
happened that the smell of rice or potato minestrone
(dial. ""rajš in kr'mpj'r") enriched
with oil came from the kitchen on Easter Friday,
since lard could not be used in cooking during
the (strict) Lent period. Homemakers prepared salt
cod in tomato sauce (dial. "šž šalšo")
or without it (dial. "n'čku t'ku"). First,
they soaked salt cod in water for two days; then
they cooked and cleaned it and fried it on boiling-hot
oil and garlic. Finally, they added tomato pulp.
Some added a little water, flour and tomato pulp
to fried salt cod. They then served it with homemade
mlinci (roasted flat pasta) or polenta (dial. "paljnta
s'z štakviž'm"). Dinner on Lent day included
pickled beans or prežganka, which means browned
flour soup (dial. "pržganko") as well
as lunch leftovers. They sometimes ate kale dressed
with fat and garlic or pickled kale with hashed
potatoes. Essential food on Christmas Eve was oil-fried
salt cod served with mlinci, pan-cooked kale
and pickled
beans. A slightly better Christmas dinner consisted
of salt cod in tomato sauce served with mlinci,
hashed cabbage (dial. "tj'nstnu zj'le")
or kale (dial. "vrzu'te"), pickled beans
(dial. "fežu u salati") and home-baked
white wheat bread. Folk wisdom held that if beans
were not served on Christmas Eve, the yield of
beans would be poor the following year. On this
festive dinner, the table was not covered with
a tablecloth and individual dishes were brought
on the table in a specific order.
Lent lasts 40 days, beginning on Ash Wednesday
and ending at Easter. In accordance with the
local customs, at the end of the 19th century
and perhaps
even in the first decade of the 20th century,
women had to wash all dishes in the house so
that no
grease remained in them on Ash Wednesday, i.e.
on the first day of the 40-day Lent. Traditional
Lenten food in the village of Betanja was minestrone
and homemade pasta (dial. "l'zanje")
drizzled with oil.
Informants
- BABIČ, Nadja, 1943, Naklo, B'sk'va.
- BAK, Albina, 1927, Škocjan, Žvank'va.
- GOMBAČ, Zorka, 1921–2004, Betanja, Šimc'va.
- IVANČIČ, Mira, 1931, Matavun, Komarj'va.
- MAHORČIČ, Gabrijela, 1910–2006, Naklo, B'sk'va.
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