Everything you need to know Shrove Tuesday – including how to perfect your batter (and flip technique...)
The most indulgent day of the year is here once again. No, we’re not talking Christmas, or Easter – it’s Pancake Day. The one date in the calendar when you can absolutely eat the same dish for breakfast, lunch and dinner – without guilt, without shame.
So, get your ingredients ready, grease your pan and don your apron. Here is everything you need to know this year’s traditional feast day, from why we celebrate to how to ensure your pancakes are as fluffy as clouds – whether you prefer a thin British classic or a fluffy American stack.
Pancake Day has been celebrated in Britain for centuries as the feast day before Ash Wednesday, when the fasting season begins.
Historically, Anglo-Saxon Christians would go to confession on Shrove Tuesday to be absolved of their sins, before indulging in rich fat-based foods to use up ingredients ahead of Lent.
However, it is believed that the Christian Pancake Day was in fact borrowed from an old pagan festival to welcome the arrival of spring. Circular, hot pancakes were seen to symbolise the sun, providing those who ate them with the sun’s power and strength.
