A thick pottage of chickpeas and lentils, simmered with desalted dried fish, flavored with olive oil, garlic, and herbs. The humble dish of abstinence days, nourishing and worthy of a Church table.

Why this dish? Anastasius IV, an old man elected at an advanced age, kept a sober table regulated by the Wednesday and Friday fast. This pottage of legumes and fish was the ordinary fare on lean days at the curia, where meat was forbidden but dignity preserved.

Know, you who read this, that We governed the Church as a man already laden with years, and that sobriety befits the successor of Peter. On Wednesdays and Fridays, no flesh was on Our table: they served Us this pottage of peas and lentils, where the dried fish from the coasts was soaked the day before to return its salt to the water. A drizzle of oil, a crushed clove of garlic, and we gave thanks before breaking bread. Fasting is not depriving oneself of everything, my child—it is learning measure.

How it was made : Dried salted fish was the key food on lean days throughout medieval Christendom: it kept for months and traveled trade routes all the way to Rome. Legumes, inherited from the Roman *puls*, formed the protein base for both commoners and clergy during Lent.

The contemporary twist : Serve in a shallow bowl with a drizzle of new olive oil and a few shavings of orange zest—a nod to the liturgical bitterness of Lent.

Anastasius IV · Charactorium