Today is Pancake Day 2020, which means it’s time to dust off your pancake recipes and gorge on a pile of the good stuff.
And if you don’t fancy whipping up your own, the good folks at McDonald’s have extended their breakfast hours today, meaning pancakes will be available to buy all day.
Not that we need an excuse to spend the day eating pancakes, but… why exactly do we celebrate Shrove Tuesday? And what is the meaning behind today?
What is Pancake Day?
Pancake Day – AKA Shrove Tuesday – is the day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of Lent in the Christian calendar.
Traditionally, people would eat pancakes on this day to get rid of any fatty foods before the 40-day fasting season of Lent began.
Most people now opt to give up one vice – such as chocolate, coffee or alcohol – but in the past, Christians would forego foods containing fat, eggs, milk, and meat during Lent.
The need to eat up fats gave rise to the French term Mardis Gras, which roughly translates as ‘Fat Tuesday.’
Why is it called Shrove Tuesday?
Shrove, which is the past tense of shrive, means to obtain absolution for one’s sins, ordinarily achieved through confession.
Lent always starts on a Wednesday so people would go to confession the day before, dubbing today ‘Shriven Tuesday’ before it became Shrove Tuesday.
Why does the date of Pancake Day change every year?
Shrove Tuesday always falls on the seventh week before Easter, and its date changes in accordance with whenever Easter falls that year.
Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon, or just after the vernal equinox.
For Western churches, Easter Sunday always falls on a day between March 22 and April 25, and for Eastern churches, between April 4 and May 8.
This year, Western Easter falls on 12 April while Orthodox Easter falls on 19 April.
Perfect pancake recipe
Hoping to whip up a bunch of simple yet delectable pancakes today? Then look no further.
Classic pancake ingredients
- 120g plain flour
- 1 large egg
- 300ml milk
- pinch of salt
- Melted butter or oil for frying
Method
- Sift the flour into a large bowl with a pinch of salt, then add the eggs and milk.
- Whisk the mixture until it’s smooth and there are no lumps. Heat the oil or butter over a medium heat in a frying pan.
- Add a little batter to the pan (around 2tbsps worth but it depends on the size of the pan), making sure it covers the whole base of the pan.
- Brown for about a minute on both sides, flipping it with a spatula midway through.
- Serve the pancakes hot with a squeeze of lemon and sugar – or anything else which may take your fancy.
MORE: McDonald’s will sell breakfast pancakes all day tomorrow for Shrove Tuesday
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/25/pancake-day-2020-shrove-tuesday-mean-12296017/
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