Pancake Day

Nicola here. Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day, a date that is a particular favourite of mine for two reasons, firstly because my husband and I had our first date over a pile of homemade pancakes on a Shrove Tuesday long ago and secondly because, well, I just love pancakes. Here is a picture of yesterday's feast!

In the Christian tradition the 40 days of Lent, which begin today, are a time of prayers and fasting, abstaining from a whole range of foods, including meat, eggs, fish, fats and milk. Shrove Tuesday itself was the day you were summoned to church to be “shriven” and confess your sins before Lent. The shriving bell would be rung to call people to confession.

Shrove Tuesday therefore was the very last day you can indulge in treats for 40 days. After that, all edible temptation has to be removed. So the making of pancakes was a great way to use up eggs, butter and other stocks of food that would be out of bounds for the following 40 days.

As ever, in England they enjoyed a good party. The picture on the left shows the contrast of carnival and Lent, with the pub on the left of the picture and the church on the right! The four days before Ash Wednesday were very festive. Just as children go trick or treating at Halloween, they used to go “shroving” or “lent-crocking” on the Tuesday night, knocking on doors to ask for food with a rather cute rhyme:

We be come a-shroving,
For a piece of pancake,
Or a bite of bacon,
Or a little truckle of cheese, of your own making

There was another rhyme for "Collop Monday," collops being little pancakes of fried meat:

Once, twice, thrice
I give thee warning
Please to make some pancakes
‘Gin tomorrow morning

Anyone who failed to come up with the goods was in danger of being pelted with stones or broken crockery, which makes it all seem a rather less charming and innocent pastime!

Shrovetide also had plenty of other fun entertainments including games and dancing. The Royal Shrovetide football match in Ashbourne in Derbyshire is a tradition that has continued for centuries. Also called "hugball" it is recorded as far back as 1667 but is thought to have derived from 12th century Shrovetide ball games.

Another throwback to this time is the pancake race. The tradition is that in about 1445, a woman heard the shriving bell while she was making pancakes and ran to church in her apron with the frying pan still in her hand.

There are a number of excellent historical recipes for pancake-related dishes. The 18th century Banniet Tort sounds pretty amazing - a pile of pancakes made with cream and layered with fruit, alcohol and sugar! The 1730 recipe is below:

“Take a pint of cream, and make it into Pancake Stuff; season it as you do pancakes, and fry off eight of them fine, crisp, and brown; sheet a little dish with Puff-paste, and lay in the bottom, some slices of citron; lay on those a pancake; have some sack and orange-flower water and sugar mingled together, and sprinkle over: Lay another; then more sweetmeats, and sprinkle between every one still till you have laid them all: Lay sweetmeats on the uppermost, and sprinkle what you have on the top, and close it with a thin lid, and bake it off pretty quick; and when baked, cut it open, squeeze in an orange, and shake it together, and cut the lid to garnish; sugar it over, and serve it.”

The British Library has an even earlier 1585 recipe in “The Good Huswifes Jewell” recipe book which involves ale!

My best recent pancake discovery was the Dutch poffertjes, which we came across at a Christmas fair a few years ago. These are small mini-pancakes which are made in a special pan. Apparently they started off as communion offerings in the Dutch church but in the 18^th century a shortage of wheat led to the substitution of buckwheat which made them plump and delicious! Like the bigger pancakes they can be served with butter, or icing sugar or maple syrup or all three, or anything else you like!

Do you have a favourite pancake dish? And are you ready to give up delicious food  (or anything else) for Lent?

Comments

[Mary T]

What an interesting article. I had never heard of Shrove Tuesday. I learn so many new things here.

As for pancakes, I loved the way my mother would make them for us. They were huge - almost as big as the plate - and oozing in butter and syrup. When I order pancakes at he pancake house, them bring me pancakes with one tiny little ball of butter on top. There is plenty of syrup - they have jugs of it sitting on the table, but when I ask for extra butter, they bring me another tiny little ball. They have no idea of what I mean by "extra" and I am too ashamed to tell them (smile).

As for Lent, I always preferred to do extra good things rather than give anything up (except for what the Church required). However, nowadays I'm not much good for either of those things. But I can always add to my prayer life - so that will be my goal.

[Donna H.]

Oh, what memories you brought back with your post! My mother was a wonderful cook and we always looked forward to Pancake Tuesday as we had huge piles of pancakes and wonderful German sausages. My Dad in particular was so fond of pancakes. They are both gone now and you made me remember which was lovely. Don't know about giving up something but I will surely try to do better things!!

[Nicola Cornick]

LOL, Mary, I am in agreement with you on the "proper" portions of butter needed for pancakes! I love the sound of the ones your mother made!

[Nicola Cornick]

I'm so glad the post gave you happy memories, Donna. Did you have the pancakes and sausage at the same time? I've never done that, although why not since I love them with bacon!

[Sue McCormick]

My mother made pancakes for the family; when everyone else had finished she cooker her pancakes and sat down to eat. All perfectly natural; the kicker is the syrup.

In those days, Log Cabin syrup came in a can designed to look like a log cabin. The pouring spout was the chimmey. There were short comments on all sides of the can, and some contiuned to the bottom.

As I have frequently mentioned, all of our family read. So someone would stop to read the can before retuning it to the table, turning the can upside down to finish the reading on the bottom. OF COURSE the can was still uncapped; flood of syrup on the plate. Not everyone would do it on any given day but all of us were guilty.

Mother would get quite irritated at this. Then she would sit down to eat her own pancakes, pick up the can ––

fall into the same trap!

(So my memory is about syrup, but pancakes always make me remember this. AND that they were very good pancakes.

[Kareni]

My parents were born and raised in the Netherlands, so I heard about poffertjes as I grew up. It was fun to finally experience some on my first trip to the Netherlands at about age twelve. (I also heard a lot about pickled herring but have managed to avoid those to date!) Thanks for an enjoyable post, Nicola.

[Nicola Cornick]

What a wonderful memory about the syrup (as well as the pancakes) Sue! I love the creativity of Log Cabin syrup being in a log cabin shaped can, and the creativity of those of you pretending to read the print on the can by turning it upside down...

[Nicola Cornick]

LOL, yes I don't think I'd feel the same about pickled herring as I do about poffertjes. I love that you have them in your heritage, Kareni!

[Lil]

I think the only time I have ver made pancakes for breakfast is when we went camping and I woke up several hours before everyone else. I would sit outside, drinking coffee and reading. By the time everyone else got up, I was sufficiently awake to make pancakes.
Usually, I made them for dinner, when I was awake. My son-in-law at one point used to tap the apple trees and make syrup. There is something extremely satisfying about making home-made pancakes drenched in home-made syrup.

[Lil]

maple trees, not apple trees. I don't think you can make syrup from apple trees. I hate autocorrect.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Very interesting, Nicola! I knew of Shrove Tuesday and even attended a Shrove Tuesday pancake supper when I lived in Oxford, but I didn't know the history of using up rich ingredients. An English version of the French Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday. I do remember that Log Cabin Syrup can shaped like the Log Cabin, but I don't recall any of us dumping they syrup by accident. *G*

[Nicola Cornick]

Wow, homemade syrup to go with the homemade pancakes really is special, Lil!

[Nicola Cornick]

"Mardi gras" is a much better descriptive name, isn't it! I love finding out about all these traditions and imagining our characters having them as a part of their everyday lives.

[Quantum]

I remember reading about pancake races and the famous race at Olney ... though this year's event was cancelled due to covid. In newspapers after shrove tuesday (when I still read them) there were usually pictures of teams running while tossing pancakes from a frying pan, though sadly I never got to participate. I imagine the winners got to eat pancakes that survived the tossing ... having worked up an appetite.

Thanks for reminding us of some of the quirky old traditions!

[Kay]

Nicola - Love pancakes. I notice you have some healthy blueberries on your plate, that makes the pancakes somehow better for you. I have a weird food thing...I don't like my food to touch, nor do I like soggy pancakes. When I have pancakes the syrup is always on a separate plate.

[Annette N]

I love pancakes, and I sure thank you for this post.

I am in Texas, so giving up special foods will not be a huge problem at least until we thaw out.

I hope everyone is taking care and staying well and safe and warm and I hope you have water.

[Teresa Broderick]

I love pancakes but for some reason I just can't cook them!! I've tried everything and every way. Last year I got so frustrated (and mad) that I threw pancake, pan and all out in the bin. This year I bought ready made :):)

[Karin]

I love any and all pancakes, for breakfast, lunch or dinner. My mother made the Austro-Hungarian style palatschinken, they're slightly thicker than crepes, and served rolled up with jam inside.
I am fussy enough to only eat breakfast pancakes with 100% pure maple syrup. I've also discovered that teff flour is wonderful! It's slightly sweeter and nuttier than buckwheat, and now I substitute it for part of the wheat flour in my pancakes.

[Karin]

Oh, and the Banniet Tort does sound amazing. I'm tempted to improvise a modern version.

[Christina Courtenay]

The poffertjes sound intriguing, would love to taste those! For me, pancakes means crepes, not the thick American type. I love crepes with just loads of sugar on them, although adding a tiny squirt of lemon juice can be nice too. In our family opinions are divided so I always end up cooking both crepes and American pancakes. I guess we all have different tastes!

[Nicola Cornick]

I hadn't heard of the Olney pancake race, Quantum, but I see that's the one that is supposed to date back to 1445! Your comment reminded me that when I was first at school, many moons ago, we had pancake races on Shrove Tuesday. I don't remember whether we made them ourselves first and I certainly don't think they would have been edible after!

[Nicola Cornick]

How interesting, Kay. I've heard about that food preference but never spoken to anyone who has it. For me the blueberries and the redcurrants not only persuade me I'm having a healthy meal (!) but the flavours complement the pancakes too.

[Nicola Cornick]

Hi Annette. I do hope you are safe and sound and that you'll soon have a thaw and access to all the facilities (and special foods!) again. Take care.

[Nicola Cornick]

I think some of the ready made ones can definitely be as delicious as homemade, Teresa. I discovered some on holiday last year that I loved. So did my dh, who always swears that bought pancakes aren't nice at all. His face when I showed him the packet!

[Nicola Cornick]

Oooh, Karin, the palatschinken sound delicious! We will have to try those. I hadn't heard of teff flour either but a sweet, nutty flavour would be great. I'll have to try and find some.

[Nicola Cornick]

I did see a recipe for modern version of the tort on the English Heritage website: https://blog.english-heritage.org.uk/pancake-day-traditions/ Scroll down for the 21st century version!

[Nicola Cornick]

Christina, I fell madly in love with the little poffertjes as soon as I tasted them. Mind you, because they are small I did have to eat a lot of them :) I love think crepes too. The contrast of the lemon and sugar is just divine. Feeling hungry now...

[Nicola Cornick]

Thin, not think!

[Je_je7]

I like eating pancakes, but I prefer eating dumplings. :-)

Nice post.

[Nicola Cornick]

I wouldn't argue with either! Glad you enjoyed the post. Thank you.