Best/worst In Convent Food

[dominicansoul]

okay vocation station pham,

i know some of you have traveled and visited communities...

and i have to ask...

when it was time to be fed...what were some of the best/worst dishes you had?

Here is my list:

At the Sisters of Mary in Ann Arbor:

[b]The very worst:[/b]

EEL in kabayaki sauce

yup. it looked worse than it tasted. it wasn't so much the taste of it (it tasted like fish) it was the slimy way it felt....like you had just placed a live snake in your mouth!

[b]The very best:[/b]

Lamb

I had never had this before I entered the convent. I still remember this dinner. It was on Easter evening, and we celebrated it in style. I remember as they passed the lamb, I told all the sisters around me, "poor little lambs...they are sooo cute.....and yet soooo delicious!" to which all my sisters around me groaned....

[b]other worst dishes:[/b]

some strange green indian rice-gulash dish...it never sat very well with me, if you catch my drift...

brussel sprouts...okay, another vegetable i never really ate outside of the convent...i guess i dont' get around much! i remember sticking these babies into the microwave, and when i took them out, they popped and exploded all over the place, shooting here and there and everywhere, hitting me in one eye, and breezing by Sr. Mary Michael as she washed the dishes! To which i asked, "why didn't anybody tell me they are explosive?"

[b]Some other best dishes:[/b]
Anything you can eat at the Daughters of Saint Paul's in Boston, MASS is good! ITALIAN food! YUM! Especially the lasagna. Also, I remember a very dear Sister there by the name of Sr. Augusta...she used to walk with me out in the woods to the crypt they have out back, and she would just pull berries off the bushes and give them to me saying, "Taste! Taste!" And of course, it was delicious....

The Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus in St. Louis, MO: their tomato soup was awesome (they put milk in it! never had that before, but delish!)

the perogi at the Polish Dominicans in Justice hits the spot!

anything Sr. Mary Catherine, O.P. bakes is the best dessert (she helped me make flan and it was the best flan i've tasted...even better than what you find in mexican restaurants!)

[CatherineM]

The nuns who lived in the convent at our school only cooked once a month. Cinnamon rolls on the first Friday of the month for breakfast, and only for those who made it to first Friday mass. They were definitely worth getting up early for.

[InHisLove726]

This is a topic I never would have thought of. Good choice!

I have only visited the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus in St. Louis, MO. I went there this past August. I don't remember much about the food, because, well...I was sick with the stomach bug. I mostly ate at the evening meal, because it was like I had morning sickness not accompanied by pregnancy. LOL!

I remember eating the soup they had there, and it was really good! I think it was vegetable soup, which I am a sucker for anyway.

The night we ate in the courtyard in the sisters' garden was the best food that we had. It was one of their meatless nights (they abstain from meat 3 days out of the week), and we had Mexican inspired food. So we ate little flatbreads with melted coagulated milk (it keeps changing it to coagulated milk, but it's ch-eese) (yum!), and they had two different kinds of rice (spicy red rice, and white for the ones who couldn't stomach the spicy stuff), corn, and tortilla chips with salsa. It was really good! I love their lemonade too. I went back for about 3 or 4 cups of that stuff, LOL!


I'm going to be visiting the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus in Milwaukee, WI sometime this year, so I bet the food will be just as good, if not better.

Edited January 13, 2009 by InHisLove726

[puellapaschalis]

I associate the following qualities with convent food:

+plenteous
+yummy
+purple (vegetables)

[the lords sheep]

Worst? I had some pretty odd things in the orphange in Argentina with the Servants of the Lord... the very worst was boiled tripe (cow's stomach). I also had some pretty gross things while I was living with the Daughters of Charity in Ethiopia...

Best? Hm.... The Sisters of Life are great cooks. Anytime I would visit them or especially when our pro-life group would do service with them, we ate constantly and really well!! The Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma are good cooks too. I just remember eating well, though... I don't remember what we ate.

Amusing topic!

[osapientia]

[quote name='puellapaschalis' post='1750241' date='Jan 13 2009, 02:45 PM']I associate the following qualities with convent food:

+plenteous
+yummy
+purple (vegetables)[/quote]

OH puellapaschalis, you are such a BENEDICTINE.

[Piccoli Fiori JMJ]

The worst I've ever had was beets on two different occasions at the Poor Clares. I hate beets, but I ate a few anyways during my visits (as a side note, I don't eat with the sisters). But I still feel called there. I don't think I've ever ate anything else that has disagreed with me or didn't taste decent. I've been to a few different places too...

[Hilde]

I've only ever gotten great food(Dominicans and Fansiscans/st.Elizabeth)

[puellapaschalis]

[quote name='osapientia' post='1750262' date='Jan 13 2009, 09:12 PM']OH puellapaschalis, you are such a BENEDICTINE. [/quote]

Now, whilst I'm not going to DISPUTE that statement in any way...I'm really curious as to what that has to do with what I actually [i]wrote[/i]

[praying4carmel]

Hi Pham!

Happy New Year!

As My SD said in my Discernment: " Make sure you check out the Kitchen for cleaniliness and eat the food [i]because you will be eating it for the rest of your life[/i]" !!

I love our food here at the Monastery, and the retreatants think it's great too.

It's not fancy but it's wholesome, delicious and good. I am Blessed!

Love to all!

P. Nancy

[osapientia]

[quote name='puellapaschalis' post='1750323' date='Jan 13 2009, 04:50 PM']Now, whilst I'm not going to DISPUTE that statement in any way...I'm really curious as to what that has to do with what I actually [i]wrote[/i] [/quote]


Well let's see...I said that because I think what you said is very much "in line" with the Holy Rule. I copied the Chapter I was thinking of below. Maybe you wouldn't make the same connection but for me it seemed quite connected.


St. Benedict makes sure to say that all should have "enough" but not over-indulge
I believe you said "plentiful" and I think that's a fair enough relationship to "enough".

St. Benedict further says that no one should be overcome by indigestion.
I think this relates, at least in some way not just to over indulgence but to the quality of the food. I believe you mentioned that you related "convent" food to being tasty or of good quality - I can't remember the exact word.

St. Benedict ends this portion of the Rule by saying let all (except the sick) abstain from eating the flesh of four-footed animals.
I believe you mentioned "purple" and that by that you meant vegetables which reminded me of this part of the Rule.


Chapter 39: On the Measure of Food
Mar. 18 - July 18 - Nov. 17

We think it sufficient for the daily dinner,
whether at the sixth or the ninth hour,
that every table have two cooked dishes
on account of individual infirmities,
so that he who for some reason cannot eat of the one
may make his meal of the other
Therefore let two cooked dishes suffice for all the brethren;
and if any fruit or fresh vegetables are available,
let a third dish be added.


Let a good pound weight of bread suffice for the day,
whether there be only one meal or both dinner and supper.
If they are to have supper,
the cellarer shall reserve a third of that pound,
to be given them at supper.


But if it happens that the work was heavier,
it shall lie within the Abbot's discretion and power,
should it be expedient,
to add something to the fare.
Above all things, however,
over-indulgence must be avoided
and a monk must never be overtaken by indigestion;
for there is nothing so opposed to the Christian character
as over-indulgence
according to Our Lord's words,
"See to it that your hearts be not burdened
with over-indulgence" (Luke 21:34).


Young boys
shall not receive the same amount of food as their elders,
but less;
and frugality shall be observed in all circumstances.


Except the sick who are very weak,
let all abstain entirely
from eating the flesh of four-footed animals.

*edited for typo

Edited January 13, 2009 by osapientia

[InHisLove726]

[quote name='praying4carmel' post='1750418' date='Jan 13 2009, 05:26 PM']Hi Pham!

Happy New Year!

As My SD said in my Discernment: " Make sure you check out the Kitchen for cleaniliness and eat the food [i]because you will be eating it for the rest of your life[/i]" !!

I love our food here at the Monastery, and the retreatants think it's great too.

It's not fancy but it's wholesome, delicious and good. I am Blessed!

Love to all!

P. Nancy[/quote]

Which order are you with again?? I know you posted it once, but I don't remember the name.

[InHisLove726]

[quote name='InHisLove726' post='1750434' date='Jan 13 2009, 05:36 PM']Which order are you with again?? I know you posted it once, but I don't remember the name. [/quote]

Nevermind! I visited your profile:

Sisters of St. Benedict
[url="http://www.smmsisters.org/"]http://www.smmsisters.org/[/url]

[Mari Therese]

I had branflakes 5 days in a row at a convent, they were hard to choke down after the 3rd day.

The best meal I ever had was jerk chicken (sooo good), scalloped potatoes and vegetables seasoned to perfection, plus soup cuz they always have soup at dinner as a tradition.

[littlesister]

Although there was nothing wrong with the food itself, this was one of our more memorable meals: It was one of our first mornings in Paris. A nice box of corn flakes came down the table because, after all, the Americans are used to corn flakes. The cook, however, was not, nor were the other Europeans. Box in hand, we looked around for the bowls. Not one in sight. So we held our breath and gingerly poured the cereal onto our plates. (This was in silence, of course, and none of us trusted our French far enough to try explaining.) Next came the nice big pitcher of milk. Hot. Very hot. Oh well, they were really trying, and we appreciated the effort. So we very carefully startetd pouring. The only trouble was that a flat plate doesn't hold very much, so most of the cereal was world-class crunchy. After that we realized that the only flatware in sight was a knife and a teaspoon. That was the end of the good impression we were trying to make. We bravely set to work with our teaspoons, and the giggles set in as we chased the flakes around, trying not to give the table a milk bath in the process. I glanced up to see how our Spanish companion was managing. Too late. Her flakes were already drowned in her coffee, the French girl beside her had followed suit, and they were both obviously trying to figure out what to do next. One was going at it with a spoon. The other was trying to drink her coffee through it. After that meal, we gathered up our collective French and explained to our long-suffering Superior what the hilarity was about. The next time a box of Kellogg's appeared, everything was just fine.
After that, the artichokes were nothing. The meal was in recreation, and the French sisters spread themselves out to give us a demonstration. That was another show.
I loved Paris.