The true Carnival ushers in the dreariness2) of Lent3). In Cyprus4) and parts of Greece, the Little Carnival ushers in the Advent season, which, for purists, is also a time of abstinence5). Many observe a forty-day fast, and generally no meat, sweets, or fats are eaten from November 15 until Christmas. So the Little Carnival is a last fling, a binge6). Throughout the preceding week, Cypriots travel into the town from all over the countryside, just to shop for tonight’s feast. Nobody wants to be, as the saying goes, “caught barefooted and naked”when the Little Carnival arrives. For many country people, this constitutes a rare visit to town, so this has also become known as the time for replenishing7) household supplies, clothes, and shoes. An essential item at the feast is a type of sesame-seed-studded pastry, which is baked in the shapes of men and women, animals and farm implements, each with a little dough cross superimposed8) on top. One of these cookies is hung from a beam or placed before a household icon and left there for good luck until the next year’s Little Carnival.

In southernmost Greece’s Mani region, feasters gorge on a type of deep-fried knots and twists of sourdough. These are eaten with roasted meat, sprinkled with cheese, or drizzled with honey. Their very fragrance, it is said, signifies the start of the Christmas season.
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