Pancake Day

Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, is the traditional feast day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Lent – the 40 days leading up to Easter – was traditionally a time of fasting and on Shrove Tuesday, Anglo-Saxon Christians went to confession and were "shriven" (absolved from their sins). A bell would be rung to call people to confession. This came to be called the "Pancake Bell".

Shrove Tuesday always falls 47 days before Easter Sunday, so the date varies from year to year and can fall anywhere between 3 February and 9 March and of course this year it is today, Tuesday, 5 March.

Shrove Tuesday was the last opportunity to use up eggs and fats before embarking on the Lenten fast and pancakes are the perfect way of using up these ingredients. A pancake is a thin, flat cake, made of batter and fried in a frying pan. A traditional English pancake is very thin and is served immediately with lemon juice and caster sugar as the toppings.

The pancake has a very long history and featured in cookery books as far back as 1439. The tradition of tossing or flipping them is almost as old: "And every man and maide doe take their turne, And tosse their Pancakes up for feare they burne." (Pasquil's Palin, 1619).

To make 10 or so pancakes (depending on how thick/thin you like them) you will need 8oz plain flour, 2 large eggs, 1 pint milk, salt. Mix all together and whisk well. Leave to stand for 30 minutes. Heat a little oil in a frying pan, pour in enough batter to cover the base of the pan and let it cook until the base of the pancake has browned. Then shake the pan to loosen the pancake and flip the pancake over to brown the other side.

In some places in the UK, pancake races still form a part of the Shrove Tuesday celebrations – an opportunity for people, often in fancy dress, to race down streets tossing pancakes. The object of the race is to get to the finishing line first, carrying a frying pan with a cooked pancake in it and flipping the pancake as you run. Those of you who have lived in Tarvin for a number of years may recall the Tarvin Pancake Races.

A famous pancake race takes place at Olney in Buckinghamshire. According to tradition, in 1445 a woman of Olney heard the shriving bell while she was making pancakes and ran to the church in her apron, still clutching her frying pan. Competitors have to be local housewives and they must wear an apron and a hat or scarf.

In other countries Shrove Tuesday is known as 'Mardi Gras'. This means 'Fat Tuesday' in French and also comes from the idea of using up food before Lent. Many countries round the world have Mardi Gras celebrations and carnivals. Some of the most famous are in Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, Venice and Sydney.

Let us have your favourite pancake topping ideas but whatever you choose 'enjoy'!