The identity of the popular culture of Menorca is represented during Lent. In the forty days of preparation, Christian penitence and reconciliation that occurs in the Carnival, Àvia Corema (Granny Corema) is one of the most popular figures of Mediterranean tradition and a very common character in Menorca homes. Her classical image is that of the wrinkled old lady, with warts, dressed in Menorca traditional costume, with a long rosary hanging from her belt and a cross that reaches to the floor. In one hand she carries a cod and in the other, a large cooking grill.
As the years have gone by, she has become a cardboard and paper doll in the form of a woman, with her arms spread out and a bulging skirt leaving enough space to place seven feet, one for each week of Lent. The schools usually get the children to make a representation of the Àvia Corema at this time of year.
In fact, Mahón has also created the giant figure of Àvia Corema that on the Saturdays of Lent is brought out on parade with all the giant figures and musicians of the city in a grand festive atmosphere, especially organized for the youngsters because every Saturday they have the mission of being present at the key moment when a leg falls off. This grand festive event is held in the town square, very close to the central offices of Bonnin Sanso.
However, Lent in Menorca also has its own gastronomic tradition, based on austere, frugal cuisine, with vegetarian and convent origins where cod is very important, just as the renowned gastronomic journalist, Bep Al·les explains: “The Lent cuisine is a cuisine of seven weeks of fasting in which meat is prohibited: a cuisine that purifies our bodies and spirits that prepares us for the spring and which cures us of the Christmas and Saint Anthony celebratory excesses”.
