Fruit, vegetables, fish, dairy products ... What dishes did the Carmelite nuns of Lisieux eat at the time of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux? Did their cooking take health and good taste into account? According to oral tradition and some recipes preserved in the archives of the Carmelite convent in Lisieux, their menu seems to have been healthy and relatively balanced, although today we would be tempted to lighten it up a little.
For example, the morning menu included leek and potato soup (replaced during Lent by a clear broth). On Sundays after Mass, around 9 a.m., the nuns prepared sorrel rice. Lunch consisted of fish or eggs with vegetables and fruit from the garden. Dinner consisted mainly of vegetables and fruit from the monastery's garden.
A piece of cheese was served occasionally, and sweet dairy products were served sometimes for dessert. As a general rule, the Carmelites of Lisieux, except for the sick sisters, never ate meat.
Among the recipes preserved in the monastery archives are “slow-cooked soup” (a main course), an apple omelet for big celebrations, and their traditional Sunday rice with sorrel.
Small celebrations for Easter and Christmas
For Easter and Christmas, the monastic menu became more elaborate and was accompanied by white wine. These small feasts were made possible by generous gifts sent to the community by the nuns' relatives. This is what Sister Mary of the Eucharist recalls with gratitude in her correspondence with her parents (the Guérin family):
Yesterday evening the refectory was filled with all your gifts, I had never seen so many ... and then to finish ... another basket of plums arrived ... This time, I could no longer contain myself ... Our Mother was also deeply touched ... but it’s impossible to repay you for what we all felt. (September 6, 1895)
Christmas is celebrated at the Carmel as I have never seen before ... The Community is unrecognizable, it is free and everyone is joyful. The meals are splendid, new dishes every day: buckwheat pancakes, crepes, doughnuts, etc. (December 28, 1895).
The “diabolical” lobster recounted by Teresa
Even shellfish sometimes appeared on the refectory tables. In a letter dated March 19, 1897, addressed to Father Adolphe Roulland, a missionary in China, little Thérèse describes, with her very personal sense of humor, an unusual scene caused by the unexpected arrival of a lobster in the monastery kitchens. It was a gift from a benefactor:
A charitable person recently gave us a small lobster, carefully tied up in a basket. It had certainly been a long time since such a marvel had been seen in the monastery. Our good cook, however, remembered that the little creature had to be put in water to cook it; she did so, groaning at being forced to exercise such cruelty on an innocent creature.
The innocent creature seemed asleep and let her do as she pleased; but as soon as it felt the heat, its sweetness turned to fury, and, aware of its innocence, it asked no one's permission to jump into the middle of the kitchen, because its charitable executioner had not covered the pot.
The poor sister immediately armed herself with tongs and ran after the lobster, which was jumping desperately. The struggle continued for quite some time, and finally, tired of the fight, the cook, still armed with her tongs, came crying to our Mother and told her that the lobster was possessed by the devil. Her face said much more than her words. (Poor creature, so sweet, so innocent all the time, how diabolical you then became! Really, you shouldn't believe the compliments of creatures!)
Our Mother couldn't help laughing when she heard the statements of the stern judge demanding justice. She immediately went to the kitchen, took the lobster — which, not having taken a vow of obedience, put up some resistance — and then, having put it in its prison, she left but after closing the door tightly (that is, the lid).
That afternoon during recreation, the whole community laughed until they cried over the diabolical lobster, and the next day everyone got to try a bite. “The person who wanted to entertain us didn’t miss his mark, because the famous lobster, or rather its story, will serve us more than once as a feast, not in the refectory ... but during recreation (March 19, 1897).
And today?
Today, in the same way, festive dishes are always planned to celebrate Easter or Christmas. In addition, on these occasions, the sisters are entitled to gourmet gifts such as chocolates, according to what the Carmelites told Aleteia France. Of course, on a birthday, the sisters bake a cake to celebrate the occasion.
“In reality, nothing has changed since the time of St. Thérèse. Except, perhaps, for one thing: in Thérèse's time, each dish was served in advance. You had to take the plate as it was served for you. Today, the dishes are passed around and each sister takes as much as she wants, making sure there’s enough for the others. Otherwise, the ceremony and rules for meals are the same," explains Camille Burette, archivist at the Carmel of Lisieux.
