Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day)

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Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) Shrove Tuesday - Pancake day

It is Easter that fixes the date of Shrove Tuesday. Leading up to Easter is Lent with its 40 days of fasting. Just before Lent starts on Ash Wednesday, comes a day of eating up all the naughty foods. In the olden days 'naughty foods', not allowed in Lent, would be butter and eggs - ideal for making pancakes.

Curiously, when calculating Lent, Sunday's don't count, hence Shrove Tuesday is actually 47 days before Easter Sunday.

The earliest possible date for Shrove Tuesday is the 3rd of March, while the latest possible date is the 9th of March.

Etymology of the word Shrove

In modern English, the word 'Shrove' has no meaning outside of pancake or Shrove Tuesday. Academics can trace shrove to the past tense of the verb shrive, which itself means absolution. This derivation helps to cement the meaning of eating up luxury food before the penance of fasting during Lent.

If you bring to mind other old words such as Yuletide (Christmas) and Eastertide, then it will be no surprise that there are lesser known '-tides', Allhallowtide (Halloween), Whitsontide (Whitson) and Shrovetide. My point is that Shrove Tuesday is the last day of Shrovetide.

Shrove Tuesday Traditions

In the 21st century, Shrove Tuesday is most strongly associated with pancake activities.

Shrovetide

Shrovetide football in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England is something different, a unique game. On Shrove Tuesday, and also on Ash Wednesday, the Up'ards play the Down'ards, its a no hold's barred game of football with the goals three miles apart.

Instead of a kick-off, Shrovetide has a 'turning up' where a dignitary throws the special ornate ball into the crowd and the game starts. The event first came to the wider public's notice when in 1928 the then Prince of Wales (Later abdicating King Edward VIII) got caught up in the mêlée. Without modern-day protection officers he got sucked into the scrum and came out with his nose bleeding.

The only rules are: Shrovetide 2008

You must not intentionally cause harm to others
No motorised vehicles
No hiding the ball in bags or rucksacks
No trespassing, especially in churchyards.

In 2008 there was a sensation when the Up'ards were accused of cheating by having a counterfeit decoy ball. Each year a new ball is crafted with most ornate design. The Down'ards claim that a crucial time they were distracted by this fake impostor of a ball. To get any progress along the 3 mile pitch you need brains and subterfuge, as well as brawn and speed; selling the proverbial dummy is OK, but introducing another ball threatens the integrity of the game. The stewards' enquiry is likely to rumble on.

Ripon Pancake Day Race Scrapped Ripon Pancake Race banned

The Ripon traditional pancake race has been scrapped because of fears over health and safety.

The event was revived 11 years ago and since then crowds have gathered in the centre of Ripon, North Yorkshire, UK, on Shrove Tuesday. Schoolchildren run down a cobbled street flipping pancakes after the start is signalled by the ringing of the cathedral's ancient 'pancake bell' at 11 am.

Organisers reluctantly scrapped the popular event this year because of mounting costs and bureaucracy linked to health and safety rules. The police wanted more than £1,000, to control the event. In the past, local schools and businesses have entered teams to race while tossing pancakes.

Organiser Councillor Bernard Bateman added, 'Health and safety has just gone too far. It makes you think twice about even trying to hold events like this, even though they are extremely popular, especially amongst children. The main issue with health and safety is the cobbled street people could slip on, but it causes us so much trouble just for a little issue. This stupidity never happened previously. It's a shame that these issues stop the children enjoying such a traditional event.'

Will and Guy can't help but agree with Mr Bateman. We also wonder if this is just a UK problem, please let us know the Health and Safety situation is in other countries.

Guy's Special Pancake Recipe

Ingredients
150g / 6oz plain flour, sifted
pinch of salt
3 eggs
300ml / 12 fl oz milk mixed with 100ml / 4fl oz water
75g / 3oz butter

Special Shrove Tuesday ingredient - Sultanas. Add about 20 currants, raisins or sultanas (best) to the mixture when it's in the frying pan.

Method

Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Top tip: Hold the sieve high above the bowl so the flour gets an airing. Break the eggs into the flour (naturally no shells). Then whisk the eggs, a fork is fine, but lovers of gismos may prefer to use an electric whisk. Another tip: leave the mixture for 30 minutes for any difficult lumps to dissolve naturally.

Now you are ready to add small quantities of the milk and water mixture, keep whisking until you get the consistency of thin cream. You always get lumps, but have faith, eventually they will dissolve into the mixture. Next melt the butter in a pan. Spoon the butter into the batter and whisk it in. Tip: use kitchen paper to smear the pan with butter before you make each pancake.

Cooking the Pancakes:
Get the pan smoking hot, then turn the heat down to medium. By all means experiment with various thicknesses, but my opinion is that thinner is better, aim more for crêpes rather than crumpets. Here is where you add those sultanas, I think about 20 is right, but be flexible.

Trick: As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip the mixture around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter. It should take only half a minute to cook the first side. The first pancake is often a bit leathery - no worries, the rest will be fine. Pancake Day Tuesday

Here is a high risk, high reward strategy - toss your pancake. Remember that 'leathery' first pancake? Use it to practice your tossing. The secret is to flick the wrist so that you give the pancake a slow spin, then bring the pan down in sympathy with the flipping pancake.

To serve:
Squeeze fresh lemon juice (else use one of those plastic lemon juice bottles)
Some like sugar sprinkled on their pancakes (not me)
Option 1: Spread maple syrup.
Option 2: Crêpes Suzette variation: Add one finger of warm brandy to the cooked pancake then set fire with a match. (If you are not a poser, you are better off drinking the brandy as a chaser.)
Roll-up your pancake with a fork then cut pieces of your 'tube'.

Secret - Eat your pancakes fresh; re-heated pancakes lose their texture compared with those straight out of the pan.

Pancake Day Joke

At first they talked about cars and farms, and true to form, the American had the swankiest car and the biggest farm. Then they got to talking about children's names.

'My son was born on St David's Day', remarked the Welshman, 'So - look you, we obviously Christened him David.'

'That's a real coincidence', observed the Englishman', My son was born on Michaelmas Day, 29th of September, so we decided to call him Michael.'

'That's remarkable', piped up the American, 'Exactly the same thing happened with my son Pancake.'

Why Pancake Day is celebrated less in the USA

Much of America celebrates Mardi Gras on the day before Lent. That's the same day as Shrove Tuesday, and as there is no contest between pancakes and a parade followed by a party, Shrove Tuesday gets overlooked anywhere where they celebrate Mardi Gras. Incidentally Mardi is the French for Tuesday and Gras means fat.

Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day)