Today Grill Day preparations are made for the great fast of Lent and it gives households the opportunity to consume in a festive and joyful way whatever red meat they have left.

The word “Tsiknopepti” comes from the word “tsikna” (the smell of roasted meat) and from the word “Pepti” and is celebrated 11 days before Green Monday.

It’s a day preparation for the great Lenten fast before Easter, a preparation that consists in trying to experience the coming days of Great Lent.

As ekklisiaonline.gr writes, Tsiknopepti is in the 2nd week of the period called triode, which consists of three weeks before we enter Great Lent, i.e. the fast before Easter:

  • In the 1st week the Pronunciation or Pronunciation or Absolute,
  • On the 2nd week, Creatine or Meat Eater,
  • In the 3rd week Tyrini or Tyrofagos that no longer eats meat but only eats dairy products

During the first week of the Trinity, i.e. the Absolute, the usual fasting of Wednesday and Friday is stopped, while in the second week of the “apkreos” fasting was in effect and thus Chiknopepti acquires special importance and was considered a festive day and the table is festive since it comes after fasting and the next day we have fasting again, i.e. preparation for what is to come.

The reason this holiday has been established to become Thursday is because the Orthodox Church considers the fasts of Wednesday and Friday to be important, so the day between Wednesday and Friday was chosen, that is, Thursday.

Because in the established way of cooking tsiknopemti, grilled or fried, a strong tsikna-smoke emerges, it is called tsiknopemti.

It has been established that the red color predominates on Maundy Thursday, whether it is the meat or the wine, to remind us of Easter and the joy of the Resurrection.