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Greek traditional feast
Meat grilling in Athens
Tsiknopempti
(
Greek
:
Τσικνοπ?μπτη
,
romanized
:
Tsiknopempti
[t?sik.no?pem.pti]
) is part of the traditional celebrations of Apokries (
Απ?κριε?
),
[1]
the
Greek Carnival
season. Tsiknopempti occurs on the second to last Thursday before
Lent
and can be translated as
Charred Thursday
or
Smoky Thursday
. It centers on the consumption of large amounts of grilled and roasted meats before Lenten fasting commences.
[2]
Celebration
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]
Apokries (Carnival season) in Greece is made up of three themed weeks of celebration. These weeks are, in order:
Prophoni
(
Προφων?
, 'Preannouncement Week'),
Kreatini
(
Κρεατιν?
, 'Meat Week'), and
Tirini
(
Τυριν?
, 'Cheese Week').
[2]
Tsiknopempti is the Thursday of
Kreatini
and represents a highlight in a weeklong celebration of meat consumption. The festivities on Tsiknopempti revolve around large outdoor parties where massive amounts of meat are grilled or roasted.
Often Tsiknopempti-like celebrations will occur again, generally on a smaller scale, the following Sunday which marks the final day meat can be eaten before the beginning of the
Great Lent
, the strict fasting season that leads up to
Easter
.
[3]
In the
Greek Orthodox
tradition,
fasting
on Wednesdays and Fridays is important, therefore Thursday is the best day for Tsiknopempti.
[4]
Tsiknopempti is celebrated 11 days before
Clean Monday
(often referred to in English as Ash Monday, to allude to Ash Wednesday in the West, however in Orthodox tradition there is no imposition of ashes). After Tsiknopempti, the next major celebration of Apokries is
Tirofagos
(
Τυροφ?γο?
) during the week of
Tirini
which focuses on the consumption of cheese, eggs, and dairy.
In
Lebanon
, a similar tradition exists and is known as
Khamis el sakara
(Thursday of drinking).
Similar celebrations known as
Fat Thursday
are held in many other countries.
Etymology
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The Greek word
Τσικνοπ?μπτη
(Tsiknopempti) is made up of the words
τσ?κνα
(
tsikna
,
lit.
'the smell of roasting meat') and
Π?μπτη
(
Pembti
, 'Thursday').
[5]
See also
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References
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