Clean Monday
Clean Monday is a public holiday in Greece and Cyprus, where it is celebrated with outdoor excursions, the consumption of shellfish and other fasting food, a special kind of azyme bread, baked only on that day, named "lagana" () and the widespread custom of flying kites. Eating meat, eggs and dairy products is traditionally forbidden to Orthodox Christians throughout Lent, with fish being eaten only on major feast days, but shellfish is permitted in European denominations. This has created the tradition of eating elaborate dishes based on seafood (shellfish, molluscs, fish roe etc.). Traditionally, it is considered to mark the beginning of the spring season, a notion which was used symbolically in Ivan Bunin's critically acclaimed story, "Pure Monday".
Shellfish Association of Great Britain
Table below: all values = per 100g serving
Contrary to the "old wives tale" that certain shellfish (i.e. prawns) raise cholesterol we now understand that the amount of saturated fat in the diet has a greater effect in raising blood cholesterol than the amount of cholesterol in the diet. So while dietary cholesterol is present in prawns, crabs and lobsters, as well as in squid and octopus, they contain very little saturated fat and for most people do not cause a rise in the level of cholesterol in the blood. Shellfish such as cockles, mussels, oysters, scallops and clams are very low in cholesterol, about half as much as chicken, and contain much less cholesterol than red meats.