I'm seeing short ribs featured a lot in the food media lately.
I love them. They deserve the new attention

O! Lenten time of fast and self-denial
that brings the pilgrim closer to his home
by teaching us that sin must be reviled
and yearly calls the sinner to atone.
But Lord, why must Thou take the meat?
Those other foods You gave us can’t compete.

O! To have a steak or Shepherd’s pie,
perhaps some chicken wings, a slice of ham?
It is a shame Your creatures have to die,
but what a tasty creature is the lamb!
But Lord, why must you take the meat?
‘Tis such a juicy, chewy, treat

O! Lord! When Thou were walking on the earth
the flesh of beasts you seemingly abhorred.
In Israel there must have been a dearth
of those like me — a happy carnivore.
But Lord, why must you take the meat?
It really was the best thing You could eat.

O! How these forty days do sorely try
the lover of that choicest kind of food.
Yet, verily, I must admit that I
may cast on meat a glance that’s almost lewd.
But Lord, why must you take the meat?
Without, I fear I’m incomplete.
(Maybe that’s the problem?)

 

Goose,

No apology needed...my post was meant to be jesting...that's why the follow up.

As to your question:

In the Orthodox Church there is abstinence from "fleshmeats" (meaning from any critter with a backbone) not only through all of Lent, but also for the full week preceding (February 19 this year) which is called "Cheesefare week".

It gets tougher:  During Cheesefare week we are still allowed eggs, milk and dairy.  You can guess what's coming:   During Lent not only do we abstain from fleshmeats but also from eggs, milk, and dairy.  And our Lent begins at sundown on Cheesefare Sunday....three days before Ash Wednesday.

So we go 6 full weeks without dairy and 8 full weeks without fleshmeats with two excecptions:  We can have fish on the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25) and on Palm Sunday.

It is rigorous,  It is tough.  But the feasting at Pascha (Easter) is an international buffet beyond description that goes on for a whole week---and can only be truly appreciated if one has been diligent in the Fast.

So the question that many ask is, "what do you do for protein"?   Legumes--peanuts, beans, beans, and more beans.   Hummus.   Lentil soups.   Meatless chili (starting a pot of that tomorrow morning!). And, of course, non-fish seafood:  Shrimp, scallops, oysters, mussels, clams, crabs.

A curious thing happens along the way--by about the third week of the Fast your sweat no longer has an odor, because there are no animal proteins in your body.   Which means that when you go to Confession your Priest knows instantly how observant you have been.

http://www.antiochian.org/lent/entering-lent