“Take away our fear of fat, and make us glad of the oil which ran upon Aaron’s beard. Give us pasta with a hundred fillings, and rice in a thousand variations. Above all, give us grace to live as true men-to fast till we come to a refreshed sense of what we have and then to dine gratefully on all that comes to hand. Drive far from us, 0 Most Bountiful, all creatures of air and darkness; cast out the demons that possess us; deliver us from the fear of calories and the bondage of nutrition; and set us free once more in our own land, where we shall serve thee as thou hast blessed us-with the dew of heaven, the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. Amen.”

The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon