In the bland and bitter flavours of Lent in Kerala, the comforting aftertaste of community

Although gluttony is one of its seven cardinal sins, Christianity is more than forgiving of a love for food and drink. Our numerous saints each get a feast day. We are repeatedly told to “taste and see that the Lord is good”. And if that isn’t enough, the spirit of Christ himself is embodied in bread and wine.

This isn’t unusual. Across the world, religions have used culinary traditions to sustain them. Fed with meaning, rituals focus on specific dishes or entirely abstain from eating to elevate the human spirit in the hopes of having a dinner table conversation with the Divine.

In Kerala, Malayali Christians take metaphors so seriously that you can almost taste them.

Irrespective of denomination, sub-group or diocese, Malayali Christians have always been united in our perpetual adoration for meat and alcohol. Our non-vegetarian diet has often entered the arena of India’s identity politics, battling against hegemonic forces that uphold vegetarian puritanism.

On the day to day, our culinary culture is about having good food and drink, and eating it too. Festivals take it up a notch. Christmas, for example, practices revelry as ritual, so the festival cuisine serves its celebratory spirit on a platter.

But during certain periods of the year, we are asked to...

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