Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday

For something that has developed into a light-hearted indulgence, Pancake Day (or Shrove Tuesday to give it its proper name) has very sombre origins. The word “shrive” means to confess one’s sins to a priest and receive absolution, and Shrove Tuesday marks the day before the start of Lent, a Christian (Catholic) period of prayer, self-denial (fasting) and almsgiving that leads up to Easter.

History of Pancake Day

The eating of pancakes on Shrove Tuesday can be traced back to the 1430s. A bell would be rung in the local church to call the faithful to confession. This became known as the Pancake Bell and is still rung today in some communities.

Why pancakes? Well, Lent lasts for 40 days, and so making pancakes was a way of using up eggs and fat before fasting. But there’s a symbolic reason as well as a practical one. To make pancakes you need four ingredients, and these represented four points of significance for Anglo-Saxon Christians. Eggs symbolise creation, flour the staff of life, salt wholesomeness and milk purity.

Across the UK, pancake races are a fun way to celebrate this ancient tradition. The object of the race is to get to the finishing line first while carrying a frying pan with a cooked pancake and flipping it as you run. Wearing fancy dress is optional. Legend has it that the tradition started in Olney in Buckinghamshire when one faithful woman heard the shriving bell as she was making pancakes and rushed to church still clutching her frying pan. They take pancake-tossing very seriously in Olney: The Olney Pancake Race 2025 | Tickets Dates & Venues – CarniFest.com

Shrove Tuesday is a moveable feast, always falling 47 days before Easter Sunday. This means the date varies from year to year, but this year it falls on the 4th of March.

I enjoy my pancakes plain with just a squeeze of lemon juice on top, but sugar, syrup and fruit are popular garnishes too. However you enjoy yours, just remember that tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, when the fun stops and the penance begins!

By Lesley McRobb

Photo by Mae Mu

Enjoy another tasty reading with our post on National Bakewell Tart Day