Dinner Discussions from the Grace Before Meals movement gives “food for thought” for your family meals by combining some aspects of faith, food and family fun.  Hopefully this little article gives you something to talk about with your family at the kitchen table – a blessed place that enhances family communion.  If you have a comment, question, or a topic you would like to discuss, be sure to contact us at www.gracebeforemeals.com.

Pink in the Middle

(Roasted Lamb – medium rare with sautéed greens.)

Pink in the middle, at least for a nice juicy steak, describes a medium rare, tender and juicy – and in my opinion – a perfectly cooked piece of meat.  However, there’s another type of “pink in the middle,” which many Catholic Christians experienced this past Sunday.  Laetare Sunday – a day when priests often make a joke about having to wear “pink” vestments.  Although the official color is in fact “rose” (not pink), it’s almost humorous that priests have to prove their confidence in their own masculine identity by wearing this bright and festive liturgical apparel.

(Pope Benedict XVI wearing “rose” colored vestments for Laetare
Sunday.)

But what does this color mean, and how does this relate to our food movement?

These vestments are worn only twice in a liturgical calendar year – during Advent and Lent.  During Advent we call the celebration when the priest wears rose-colored vestments “Gaudete Sunday,” which means, “rejoice.”  Similarly during Lent, we call this past Sunday, “Laetare Sunday,” which also means to be happy and rejoice!

In both cases these unique Sunday celebrations fall in the middle of the season, when priests vest in purple – a color that evokes penance, such as the Lenten practice of fasting, increased prayers and almsgiving.  The lighter, happier pinkish-colored vestment worn in the middle of the season reminds Christians that despite our Lenten practices, we have reason to rejoice.  We’re halfway through the 40 days of the desert!  This lighter and brighter color is a sign of life, happiness, and joy!

(Happy Mount Students!  I recently cooked for the student body at Mount
St. Mary’s Seminary.  The lines – as you can see – were quite long.
They were happy for some tasty variety!)

The foodie side of me, however, sees this “pink in the middle” of Lent as an invitation to consider another perspective – a culinary perspective.  A pink center assures that a cut of beef is not overcooked, tough, or dry.  Whereas a well-done steak would be grayish brown, the pink color indicates a juicy and tender center.  Some even compare eating overcooked beef to chewing on leather.  It’s obviously NOT my preference for cooking beef!  There is literally no life blood or tenderness in it.  A pink center, cooked medium rare, guarantees goodness, flavor, and above all tenderness!

(Steak salad over sautéed spinach and topped with blue cheese
crumbles.)

That’s the connection:  tenderness.  There is a great Bible quote from the Canticle of Zaccharia that says, “In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace!” (Luke 1:77-79)  Yes, we need more of God’s tender compassion!

Yes, this color – both in food and in liturgy – reminds us of our call to be more tender with one another.  We may be tough on the outside.  This tough world sometimes demands it!  But deep down inside, we all can admit the soft spot that makes us capable of loving one another with gentleness.

(A “tender” side of me.  Me with some Grace Before Meals friends
from Fort Meade Army Base after a recent event.  I’ve got a real
"soft spot" for  babies!)

Are we a little pink in the middle?  Or have our busy lives turned us dark and gray, spent, overcooked, dried up, and hard?  This liturgical season also encourages our Grace Before Meals family to consider how tenderly we treat the people around our dinner table.  Do we encourage our young children to be appropriately tender and sensitive to others, while maintaining the balance to make sure they can take the heat of the frying pan of life?

To help us find that “tender” spot in our lives, I offer these cooking techniques as an analogy for our spiritual life.  One way to achieve tenderness is to pound the meat out with a mallet.  These little thumps are like the normal daily challenges we face and accept as a way to mold our character.  When you feel like you’re being pounded on by the world, it may be God’s way of making us tender and compassionate to others?  Another way to assure tenderness is to sear the meat over high heat, which locks in juices.  In a way, the burning fire of the Holy Spirit can do the same for us if we ask God to send the Spirit into our lives.  And yet another way to assure tenderness is to cook a piece of meat sous-vide.  Sous-vide is a French technique of placing the protein in an airtight plastic bag and cooking in a warmed water immersion circulator for a long time.  For me, that would be similar to spiritually immersing ourselves in the waters of Baptism as a reminder that we are always God’s special children, whom He looks on with tenderness.

(Searing seasoned meat in a slightly oiled but highly heated cast
iron skillet for 1 minute on each side, and then finishing off in
a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes creates a beautiful crust
and pink tender inside!)

Parents can ask children if they know what tenderness means and how to manifest this important human characteristic.  I consider the recent debacle of a high school ice hockey game that turned into a big brawl, seriously injuring many players.  There have been more episodes of young women getting arrested due to lewd conduct and gang-type fighting.  Police reports tell us the major cause of accidents is due to road rage, i.e., a lacking respect and gentleness while driving!  These examples force us to consider what’s happening to us on the inside?  Are we being hardened and toughened to the point of being incapable of love or being lovable?

(Archbishop Dolan of New York City, with his aunt and mother after
a radio interview on Sirius 159/XM117.  Even though he’s the powerful
Archbishop of one of the most prominent cities in the world, he’s
also still a “mamma’s boy” – a real sign of his strength and
devotion to his family!)

We’re now in the middle of Lent – a time to return to the tenderness of God!  Now that we’re halfway to Easter, we can ask just how “pink” we are in the middle?

(Me eating Bobby Flay’s Skirt Steaks after the Throwdown! taping.
Look at the beautiful pink color of that beef! And notice how happy
I am to eat it!)

Let us pray:  Father in Heaven, help us remember our call to be more like You, gentle, loving, and kind.  When we find our hearts turning hard like stone, may this season of Grace remind us to rejoice, knowing that our struggles in this life won’t last forever.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Please tell us what you think of this dinner discussion.  Have you talked with your children about this important human/relational quality of gentleness, and what do you say without sounding “corny”?  Do you have any other cooking tips to help keep proteins tender and juicy?  Your comments and questions are both helpful and encouraging to me and our Grace Before Meals Family.  Please post your comments BELOW.

Ask Fr. Leo for fatherly advice.

Any submissions may be used in future Grace Before Meals publications.

Posted in Dinner Discussion, Grace Before Meals, Recipe-Italian | 7 Comments