Consider my trust in my editor tested. His bright idea? Ranking every fast food fried fish sandwich I could find in New Jersey, in honor of Lent during which Christians abstain from eating meat but can eat fish.

The Filet-O-Fish isn’t the best-tasting fried fish sandwich out there, but I get the appeal. There is a certain purity to the flavor: the pollock is clean, the breading is flaky, the tartar sauce is tangy and heavy on the relish, and the American cheese accentuates the creaminess of the sauce while adding a salty top note to everything.

As we turn the page on the calendar from February to March, we once again enter the Lenten season, a time of fasting and reflection in Christianity in the period leading up to the Easter holiday. For some,