All About Shrove Tuesday, AKA Pancake Day
Shrove Tuesday is a day in either February or March, observed traditionally by some Christian sects. The exact date however changes every year as it is determined by Easter, which as we know changes every year due to the fact that Easter is always scheduled to fall on the Sunday that follows the full moon on or after March 21, which also known as the Spring Equinox for the Northern Hemisphere.
It marks the beginning of Lent, which historically forbade the consumption of fats like butter, milk and eggs. The meaning of the word shrove even denotes the act of atoning for one’s sins.
It colloquially became known as Pancake Day because many families would throw together pancakes – the most obvious way to use all of the outlawed items.
In some places (we’re looking at you New Orleans, with your wild parties on Bourbon Street) it is also referred to as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday as it is technically seen as the last day of indulgence before Lent. Lent always takes place the 47 days before Easter but nowadays it is not so strict – most modern followers will give up a bad habit or seemingly unhealthy foods.
While fully entrenched as a Christian institution, there are however some beliefs that the practice of eating pancakes may have originated from a Pagan tradition where eating warm, round pancakes was a way to symbolise the sun and welcome in Spring.
Along with eating delicious pancakes, some nations honour the day by holding pancake races (where you race to the finish line while flipping a pancake) or even pancake-flipping contests, to see who can flip their pancake the highest. However, you choose to celebrate Shrove Tuesday is fine by us, as long as you uphold the tradition of eating. Be it pancakes, flapjacks (American pancakes) or even crepes, best you get to flipping with our selection of Shrove Tuesday-appropriate recipes.