You may know the day before Ash Wednesday as Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras,
or even Shrove Tuesday, but in Lebanon Pennsylvania it is Fastnacht
Day. On this day, the local Catholic churches make and sell these sinful
confections called Fastnachts. They are like a doughnut, but more dense and
flavorful. Fasnachts were originally made as a way to empty the pantry of
lard, sugar, fat, and butter, which were traditionally fasted from during Lent.
The word Fastnacht originates from the German words "Fast" the shortened
version of the verb "fasten" which means "to fast", and "Nacht" meaning night,
indicating the eve of the traditional Lenten fasting period. There is nothing in
the world like a freshly fried Fastnacht and we look forward to this day all year!
No comments:
Post a Comment