Beating cats out of barrels to mark the start of Lent

In most Christian denominations, Lent is a 40-day liturgical season that represents the time Jesus spent in the desert, where, according to the Bible, he endured temptation by Satan.

The purpose of Lent is to prepare the believer - through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial - for the annual commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus, as celebrated during Holy Week, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter.

As the fast applies to festivities as well as foods, the implication was that food stored from the previous harvest should be eaten before it went bad during the period. People naturally developed a desire to hold a large celebration at the last possible opportunity before fasting. From heathen times, the transition from winter to spring was also a reason to celebrate. The celebrations developed into a carnival, which comes from the Latin 'carne vale' or 'goodbye to meat'.

Denmark calls this carnival 'Fastelavn', which derives from the Low German 'Fastelovend' or 'Fastnacht' - 'the evening before the fasting'.

In practice, the Danish carnival celebration takes the form of children in carnival-inspired costumes and make-up beating wooden barrels, scoffing candy and eating round sweet rolls usually covered with icing and filled with cream.

The major aspects of the Danish 'Fastelavn' are beating a cat out of a barrel, singing 'Fastelavn er mit navn' and Lenten buns.

In the game of 'Slå katten af tønden' (beating the cat out of a barrel), the children hit a suspended wooden barrel that is full of candy until the bottom of the barrel breaks and candy starts to fall out. The child doing this becomes 'kattedronning' (queen of cats). After the candy pours out, the game continues until the entire barrel is broken. The child who knocks out the last piece of the barrel becomes 'kattekonge' (king of cats).

Today, the barrel has the image of a cat painted on it. Historically, however, there was a real black cat in the barrel, and beating it was superstitiously considered a safeguard against evil. It was once believed that killing a cat meant a town could avoid the plague.

During the celebrations, children sing songs such as 'Fastelavn er mit navn (My name is carnival/shrovetide)' and rattle a bundle of fresh beech twigs laced with cut-out figures in the faces of parents and others to wake them up. In fact, this tradition symbolises Jesus' suffering on the Cross.

A popular aspect of the day is 'Fastelavnsbolle' (Lenten bun). This is a round sweet roll usually covered with icing and filled with cream (see recipe).

Lenten buns
Ingredients:
25 g yeast
75 g melted butter
50 g sugar
1 pinch of salt
1.5 dl milk
300 g flour
Seeds from ½ vanilla pod or 1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar
1 egg or egg whites for brushing

Filling:
100 g softened butter
150 g good marzipan
1-2 tablespoons of sugar

This is what you do:
Dissolve the yeast in the heated milk. Mix the lightly beaten egg and thereafter the melted butter into the milk. Mix in the flour, sugar and salt. Keep some of the milk until you can see how much the dough needs. Knead the dough until leaves your hands and the kneading surface easily and is shiny.

Leave the dough to rise for an hour, covered by a tea towel. In the meantime, prepare the filling by softening the marzipan and mixing in the butter and a little sugar.

Once the dough has risen, divide it into 16 parts. Use each part to form a bun and flatten it with your hand, so it is about 10 cm in diameter.

Put a spoonful of the filling in the middle of each flattened bun, fold the corners together and form the dough into a bun.

Place the buns with the folded side downwards on a piece of baking paper in a baking tray and let them rise again for about an hour under a tea towel.

Brush the buns with whisked egg or egg white and bake them in the centre of a 220° C oven for 10-15 minutes or until they are golden.

Let the buns cool on a wire baking tray.

They taste best on the day they are made.

Tips:
You can put candied peel or raisins in the dough.
You can put small pieces of apple in the filling with the marzipan.
You can also put icing on the buns and fill them with cream.

The Copenhagen Post