Written by Marigoula Kokkinou and Georgia S. Kofinas, "The Festive Fast: Greek Meatless Cooking in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition" was born out of a discussion among a group of urban families who expressed a desire to become more aware of the idea of fasting in an urban setting, which does little to encourage such an endeavor. Most of the people involved in the discussion were brought up in a climate that considered fasting to be a modern technique in dieting; something "good for your health" rather than a spiritual struggle which is what fasting really is. And of course the post-war period reinforced this concept, as there was a subconscious, primarily urban, tendency to no longer be deprived of the rich abundance of food, which the newly acquired wealth could obtain. Thus, not only did fasting become "a thing of the past" in liturgical life, but the ingredients used in lenten foods became scarce on the urban food shelf in contrast to their abundance in rural societies.

In spite of this, tradition has handed down a rich selection of lenten recipes which have now become necessary to be recorded in written form as it is otherwise difficult for them to be passed on from generation to generation. Our hope is that the printing of these recipes will make it easier for them to be put to use under changing and often hostile new social conditions.