Today is Maundy Thursday, dr Kàrdonnerstig or dr Griandonnerstig, literally Green Thursday.
Yes, I thought it was the right day for you to spend Green Day. This Green Thursday was instituted by Pope Leo II in the year 692 in memory of the Lord’s Supper. And this strange name, “Green Thursday”, imposed itself from the 13th century. After the Oschterpùtz of the house, the spring cleaning, it is time to move on to that of the body. Traditionally, we will ingest a certain number of green plants with purifying properties, and vegetables, always all green in color. Uh no Matmatah, not those plants, calm down!
The fasting gurus didn’t invent anything. If you want to make it simple, a dish made with hard-boiled eggs and spinach, it’s easy, it’s quick. But if you want to go deeper into this, in many municipalities in Alsace, we tasted a dish called Sewernelei Krittle, the sticky ones, or Ninkrittermües, the porridge with nine plants. The following plants were used, depending on availability: dandelion, sorrel, green cabbage, leek, chives, parsley, chervil, nettle, yarrow, spinach, primrose, gooseberry leaves, elder buds, watercress, lady’s mantle… You boil everything to make a puree, salads, soup.
In short, the Griendonnerschdi is truly Green Thursday on your plate. On the other hand, be careful: if you eat dishes made from beans, peas, beans, lentils today, you risk, according to popular belief, having boils. I don’t know if it’s true, but I’m going to avoid today, you never know!