Shrove Tuesday and Pancakes!

27/2/2023

When I was younger, and even to this day, I have always placed Shrove Tuesday into the context of raiding and emptying the cupboards of flour, milk, sugar and eggs and feasting on pancakes ahead of a period (for some) of fasting and abstinence which is Lent. I didn’t really think too much about how the association of pancakes with this religious observance was a later date add-on, as really I was just being swept along by the food! However in pausing for thought what you get is that it is highly unlikely that Jesus and the disciples had pancakes in their repertoire of foods.

So having done a bit of research to pique my curiosity this is what I have discovered: Shrove Tuesday has always been part of the Christian calendar; it represents a time of confessing sins, asking forgiveness and undertaking penance. ‘Shriven’ is a word with Latin/Germanic origin which is used to refer and encompass the confession and commitment to penance. Hence ‘Shrove’ Tuesday.

Now for the pancakes! From further rummaging and googling various sites (so I cannot vouch for authenticity) what seems to be the consensus is that it was not until 1445 that pancakes became associated with Shrove Tuesday. This is what happened: one poor woman in England was running late for confession as she was in the midst of making a pancake . Ever the multi-tasker, she decided to take it with her, so embarked upon running down the road with her frying pan, tossing the pancake, to cool it down whilst she ran , and suddenly, hey presto! A new tradition was born and ever since we have all been making and tossing pancakes and celebrating ‘ Shrove Tuesday Pancake day!’

As far as the nursery goes Pancake Day is always a big hit. The joy comes in the making and the eating. We substituted banana for eggs, added in oats and oat milk and feasted on dairy- free pancakes! Yumminess reigned!

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