Am I the only one who's never heard of Pancake Day?

by Shayna Glick, Posted Feb 5th 2008 @ 10:01AM

I have never heard of Pancake Day. I've heard the day referred to as Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday, of course, but never Pancake Day. I don't know if that's because I am not particularly religious or I don't pay enough attention, but the result is the same. I am woefully under informed and had no idea what other bloggers have been posting about.

So in order to correct this situation, and to catch up with everyone else, I did a little research. It turns out that it's called Pancake Tuesday/Pancake Day because, in the olden days, you had to use up all the ingredients in your home that were forbidden during Lent. Most of these things (eggs, milk, butter) can be used in pancakes.

There are all kinds of celebrations out there. In Olney, England there is an actual Pancake race. The Pancake race in Olney goes back 500 years. The story goes that one woman was so engrossed in making pancakes that when she heard the church bells calling for Shriving Service, she just threw on a head scarf and ran to church with frying pan in hand.

If you're interested in a fun way to serve pancakes, watch this video. It is interesting and informative with a lot of good ideas on what can go in a pancake. I believe it's more European than American, but it looks mighty tasty all the same.

[Via ColdMud]

Source

Filed Under: Food Quest, Did you know?, Ingredients, Holidays
Tags: breakfast, comfort food, did you know, Fat Tuesday, FatTuesday, Food Quest, Mardi Gras, MardiGras, Pancake Day, PancakeDay

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-05-2008 @12:51PM Jonathan said... Hannah from Masterchef wrote about the famous Olney pancake race this morning... http://hannahscountrykitchen.blogspot.com/2008/02/as-you-will-all-im-sure-know-today-is.html

It's a great event.

Inspired by the vast range of pancake recipes on http://pancakerecipes.blogspot.com/ we are hosting an innovative pancake competition tonight and will post the results on our blog: http://aroundbritainwithapaunch.blogspot.com/2008/01/pancake-competition.html

You've got to love Pancake Day!
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2-05-2008 @10:54AM Anji said... I'm British and I can't imagine not having Shrove Tuesday. :D
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2-05-2008 @11:26AM Bendita said... Here in the Caribbean we also have Pancake day or Shrove Tuesday. However the trend seems to be confined to the older pop...
Oh and in addition to the crepe-like pancakes, we have Portuguese pancakes which are small and round and served with a drizzling of syrup. Grr, I didn't have any as yet...
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2-05-2008 @11:40AM daveg said... Is the guy in the video making pancakes or crepes? They look like crepes to me.
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2-05-2008 @12:58PM Eric said... Mmmn, and you have to love pancakes with Lyle's Golden Syrup. It's a delicious, non-GMO alternative to maple syrups - way better than corn-based "pancake syrup".

Lyle's on banana pancakes? Heaven.
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2-05-2008 @2:13PM Nathan said... Am i the only one whose never heard of Shrove Tuesday??
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2-06-2008 @8:12PM Greven.Majere said... The race in Olney, England also has a corresponding race in Liberal, Kansas. They both run the race each year and compete to see which city's winner had the fastest time.
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2-08-2008 @6:03PM Alex said... Pancakes ... crepes ... the same thing! (Those fat pudgy things are horrible!).

I made sweet crepes for Pancake Day (even followed a recipe) and they were great!

http://eatingleeds.co.uk/2008/02/pancake-day.html
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2-10-2008 @10:05AM Soccer jocky said... hey you r AMAZING!!!!!! You make the coolest movie clips ever! My fav. food is pancakes 2 i have them for breakfast every weekend because i cant have them during the week because i have 2 go 2 school!
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