Today is Ash Wednesday and thus the start of the very important medieval period of Lent. Something taken much more seriously than most modern observances.
Here are some links about how our ancestors viewed it and how they tried to bypass some of its more stringent dictates…. including a range of Lenten Recipes.
http://www.ladydespensersscribery.com/tag/medieval-lent/
http://www.coquinaria.nl/english/recipes/03.2histrecept.htm

LENT AND FASTING

http://www.scatoday.net/node/668
https://blog.kathrynmcgowan.com/category/medieval-lent/