Key Points
- 'Tsiknopempti' is celebrated in Greek culture as a meat-eating day
- But the real meaning behind 'Charred Thursday' is linked to the Greek Orthodox faith
- Communities of Hellenes worldwide, including Australia, follow the custom
Greeks across the globe are celebrating Tsiknopempti today, Thursday 24 February.
What's in a name?
It is commonly referred to as ‘Charred Thursday’ in English.
But ‘Tsiknopempti’ is also sometimes amusingly yet inaccurately translated as ‘Smelly Thursday’ due to the component ‘Tsikno(a)’ of the Greek word denoting the overpowering smell of grilled meat.
Simply because, the day traditionally involves cooking and consuming large quantities of meat, most often than not on the barbeque. But why?
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The church link to the meat feast
The reason is religious, as it marks one of the last days Greek Orthodox Christians can eat meat before the 40-days’ Easter fasting period.
But in popular Greek culture, it is also established as a festive ‘excuse’ for friends and loved ones to get together and share a lavish meal.
Gatherings take place at homes, at a typical Greek taverna or even just out on the street with a barbeque and good company being all that’s needed.
In a past interview with SBS Greek, Father Evmenios Vasilopoulos from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, gave a definition that encapsulates the double meaning of the feast.
“Let’s put it this way, it’s a gift of our Church to the faithful for getting together and having a good time while preparing for Sarakosti [Lent period],” he said.
Tsiknopempti is celebrated by Greeks around the world, including Down Under. Barbeque events can be casual hosted at someone's home or organised by community groups, like the one held every year as a youth event by the Northcote District of the Greek Archdiocese in Melbourne.
While, anecdotally, the custom dates back to ancient Greek festivals dedicated to Dionysus - the God of wine, associated with pleasure, fertility and religious ecstasy – it is an established date in the Greek Orthodox Christian calendar.
Why Thursday?
Celebrated annually, ‘Tsiknopempti’ falls, by definition, on a Thursday. But the date changes every year, depending on Greek Easter Sunday.
‘Charred Thursday’ is the last meat-eating Thursday before a lengthy Lent period begins.
In Greek Orthodox Christianity, a 4O day Lent period (in Greek Sarakosti) precedes Easter Sunday.
Aiming to prepare the faithful for Easter, it includes abstaining from meat as well as dairy products.
In fact, Tsiknopempti falls on the second of a three weeks’ preparatory period for this, defined as ‘Triodio’.
“The first week is ‘Profoni’, the second ‘Creatine’ [week of meat] and the third is the Tirofagu [cheese-eating week],” Fr Evmenios Vasilopoulos explains.
