Best/worst In Convent Food

[Laudate_Dominum]

Best for me was actually at a wacky heterodox monastery that I'd prefer not to name but I will say that it was Benedictine. lulz. They had a nice farm and I was there at a good time of year for fresh food.

Worst was probably one time at the FPOs having to eat dumpster dived dunkin donuts for a week. ewwww.. I already hate that kind of food but having to eat it day after day (and in a semi-putrid state) was a cross to bear. haha.

[cmaD2006]

[quote name='laetitia crucis' date='01 November 2009 - 05:39 PM' timestamp='1257111589' post='1994893']
Ah! I was wondering what the English translation of a cow's stomach would be! All I knew was the Spanish translation and the fact that we should be very grateful that we live in American formation houses...
[/quote]

Yeah the cow's stomach thing was a blast (I was in a different convent in Argentina). The key is boiling the stomach in milk to get rid of the odor. The sisters would also mix a whole bunch of things together (liver, etc) so they kind of hid the tripe.

The worst was the cow's head; one of the postulants got all of the meat off and got the brains out. I ate it ... disguised in something but I ate it.

Care for some Mad Cow Disease anyone :-) ??????

And dUST kudos on the c h e e s e thing aka coagulated milk.

[HisChild]

[quote name='cmariadiaz' date='01 November 2009 - 05:17 PM' timestamp='1257121079' post='1994951']
Yeah the cow's stomach thing was a blast (I was in a different convent in Argentina). The key is boiling the stomach in milk to get rid of the odor. The sisters would also mix a whole bunch of things together (liver, etc) so they kind of hid the tripe.

The worst was the cow's head; one of the postulants got all of the meat off and got the brains out. I ate it ... disguised in something but I ate it.

Care for some Mad Cow Disease anyone :-) ??????

And dUST kudos on the c h e e s e thing aka coagulated milk.
[/quote]


Ok, there's penance and then there's penance. It's one thing to eat brussel sprouts. It's something altogether insane to eat organs and body parts (aside from muscle that is).

I think I'd be fasting an awful lot there!

[Jennifer G.]

[quote name='HisChild' date='01 November 2009 - 08:17 PM' timestamp='1257117453' post='1994924']
so it's the coagulated milk thing that somehow changes when you post?
[/quote]

I guess it's some running joke on c[b][/b]heese.


Anyway, I had some yummy pasta and peas at a local benedictine convent last week.

[cmaD2006]

[quote name='HisChild' date='01 November 2009 - 08:23 PM' timestamp='1257121405' post='1994954']
Ok, there's penance and then there's penance. It's one thing to eat brussel sprouts. It's something altogether insane to eat organs and body parts (aside from muscle that is).

I think I'd be fasting an awful lot there!
[/quote]

Well ... without your superior's permission you can't simply fast, right? And if that is all the food that there is (unless of course there is a medical reason why you can't eat it) you really just have to eat it.

It was part of our custom to eat what was served. Period ... unless again you can't due to medical reasons.

So I of course prayed that the cow was 100% disease free ...

[HisChild]

Oh, I understand. It's obedience. But I can only imagine it being served as a penance, cultural differences notwithstanding! LOL

[cmaD2006]

[quote name='HisChild' date='02 November 2009 - 11:00 PM' timestamp='1257217219' post='1995526']
Oh, I understand. It's obedience. But I can only imagine it being served as a penance, cultural differences notwithstanding! LOL
[/quote]

To a lot of my companions it was more normal ... but to me as an American (from the US); gosh it was wierd. Besides I remember the whole media campaign against certain cow body parts due to Mad Cow.

I remember telling the sisters -- and they had never heard that you could get Mad Cow from eating brain. But ... it didn't make a difference.

So ... "Senor te lo ofrezco" (Lord I offer it to You) became the norm.

[HisChild]

[quote name='cmariadiaz' date='02 November 2009 - 08:03 PM' timestamp='1257217404' post='1995527']

So ... "Senor te lo ofrezco" (Lord I offer it to You) became the norm.
[/quote]


You are a better woman than I; I bask in your presence.

[AccountDeleted]

[quote name='cmariadiaz' date='02 November 2009 - 11:17 AM' timestamp='1257121079' post='1994951']
Yeah the cow's stomach thing was a blast (I was in a different convent in Argentina). The key is boiling the stomach in milk to get rid of the odor. The sisters would also mix a whole bunch of things together (liver, etc) so they kind of hid the tripe.

The worst was the cow's head; one of the postulants got all of the meat off and got the brains out. I ate it ... disguised in something but I ate it.

Care for some Mad Cow Disease anyone :-) ??????

And dUST kudos on the c h e e s e thing aka coagulated milk.
[/quote]

This wasn't a Carmelite Monastery was it? Carmelites are not supposed to eat meat, according to the Rule of St Albert, but at Edmonton they did, and I was shocked when I got there to find them eating meat. They said it was because it was donated, but I was glad that at WV and KE they stuck to the Rule, no matter what was donated! I don't think I could have eaten the cow brains... even under obedience - shudder.

Edited November 3, 2009 by nunsense

[zunshynn]

Lentils and Okra.

[quote]Worst was probably one time at the FPOs having to eat dumpster dived dunkin donuts for a week. ewwww.. I already hate that kind of food but having to eat it day after day (and in a semi-putrid state) was a cross to bear. haha.[/quote]

You discerned with the FPOs Laudate?

[brightsadness]

Best--on pilgrimage last Fall. Mother Raphaela's homemade bread.

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='zunshynn' date='03 November 2009 - 01:26 AM' timestamp='1257229612' post='1995615']
You discerned with the FPOs Laudate?
[/quote]
Yeah, but a long time ago by now. Visited all of the orthodox Franciscan orders that I was familiar with and ended up going back to the FPOs a couple more times so they couldn't have been that bad. hehe. Did you discern them or are you interested atm? Or do you maybe have a problem with them? lulz.

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='cmariadiaz' date='02 November 2009 - 10:55 PM' timestamp='1257216954' post='1995523']
Well ... without your superior's permission you can't simply fast, right? And if that is all the food that there is (unless of course there is a medical reason why you can't eat it) you really just have to eat it.

It was part of our custom to eat what was served. Period ... unless again you can't due to medical reasons.
...
[/quote]

I really admire that custom. Surprisingly, this wasn't always the way things worked out in my experience... often times plates would come back with perfectly good portions of food left on it simply because someone didn't like it. Or when in service (serving the meals), sisters would frequently say, "Oh, can I please NOT have this or that. I don't like it."

Maybe I'm being nit-picky or prideful.. I don't mean to be...but it kind of upset me. (Okay, that's an understatement. It really bothered me.) Especially knowing that this was all from donations. As someone living the vow of poverty, I guess I just expected more...poverty. (Of course, it is completely understandable to not eat something if for medical reasons, or if the food is actually rotten. But when it comes to just refusing to anything simply because you don't like it... well, I wish the superior would have said something along the lines of "Offer it up and eat it!")

I hated having to toss so much wasted food in the trash...

[Totus Tuus]

[quote name='dominicansoul' date='13 January 2009 - 11:34 AM' timestamp='1231864498' post='1750163']

[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....
[/quote]

I concur about the food up there at the Daughters of St. Paul. The four summers I was up there it was awesome. And I know Sr. Augusta too! We went on a few walks together. She taught me how to peel garlic, and couldn't get the smell off my hands for a week. I miss her so much.

[Totus Tuus]

[quote name='zunshynn' date='03 November 2009 - 01:26 AM' timestamp='1257229612' post='1995615']
Lentils and Okra.



You discerned with the FPOs Laudate?
[/quote]

I was wondering if you would say anything about the slimy OLAM okra. I have it in my blood to like that stuff, cause I'm from the south, but I know it's pretty repulsive to just about everyone else.