Flashed and thundered o Metropolitan Pavlos of Serbia and Kozani for cod that the Greeks eat on March 25th. The hierarch emphasized to the faithful who attended his sermon on Orthodoxy Sunday that it is a shame to say that this is a custom.

The hierarch underlined that the reason for eating fish on the day in question is much more essential as it is related to the miracle of the Annunciation of the Virgin and the conception of Christ.

In fact, the metropolitan “argued” the congregation, stressing that the Easter fast is strict and that only the consumption of oil is allowed, however the Fathers of the Church, wanting to mark the importance of the event and the day of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, allowed the faithful to burn fish only for that day, as well as for Palm Sunday every Lent before Holy Week.

March 25th: Why are we eating garlic cod today?

The fast of Lent is by far the strictest of Christianity. For 40 days the believers’ diet is limited to the bare essentials since they are not allowed to consume meat, fish, dairy products or even oil. However, during this hard fast, the Annunciation of the Virgin always falls in, a particularly joyous event in the Christian faith that cannot but be properly celebrated. For this particular day, therefore, there is a pause in the fast and a small deviation is provided, where fish, oil and wine are allowed.

But why cod?

The explanation is very simple. Greece, in addition to its large coastal front and its insular area, also has a large mountainous mass full of beautiful villages. In other words, where at the end of the previous century you couldn’t find fish easily, unless… you were looking for cod! This beautiful fish with all-white fleshy flesh, although we often find it in the Mediterranean, it prefers to swim mainly in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, so the countries that catch it the most are Norway, Iceland and Portugal, which has a huge weakness (in Portuguese cuisine there are more than 400 recipes with cod!). These people, for centuries, have used to pickle cod and trade it in all the countries of the Mediterranean (and not only), of course also in Greece. It is estimated that salted cod first came to our country in the 15th century and was immediately preferred as it can be preserved for much longer than a fresh fish and thus travel unchanged even to the most remote, mountainous areas. This is also the reason why its code name is “fish of the mountain”, but also “Poor John”, since its low price makes it accessible to everyone.