Pancake Tuesday: 7 Fun Facts About Pancakes

Carnival festivities in Ireland are not common. Those, like the Carnival Party in DTwo this Sunday, are undoubtedly influenced by immigrant communities.

Pancake Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday, is a celebration to mark the start of Lent. For Christian communities, Lent is a six-week period of fasting and prayer in preparation for Easter. For these communities, Pancake Tuesday is the last chance to indulge in sweet, fatty foods until Easter Sunday.

In this post we will reveal 7 important facts about pancakes:

1. Origin: Pancakes are originally from Russia. People prepared them as a symbol of sun worship. However, others say that formerly, during the celebration of Holy Week, the church forbade eating a few things, not only meat, but other foods such as eggs, milk, cheese, butter and fat. But something had to be eaten, so people began to mix wheat flour with water. thus generating a paste that stretched in thin layers on hot stones to cook it. As time passed, the recipe changed to what we know today.
   

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2. Race: In the city of Olney, England (UK) is celebrated every year, a very particular race: women participate with apron and with a frying pan in hand. In that pan, they carry a pancake. When starting the race, they should give the hotcake a round in the air, then run 380 meters, without dropping the pancake from the pan and, when they reach the finish line, they must to do another twist in the air!
   

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3. Kansas: Since 1950 the town of Liberal, in Kansas, competes with Olney, carrying out a race between the two cities, having to run the same distance, and once finished they compare the times of the two races to determine a winner. At the moment it is Liberal who is ahead. They have won 36 races compared to Olney’s 26.
   

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4. Varieties:  By the 15th century, many European countries had their own types of pancake using a wide range of ingredients such as wheat, buckwheat, occasionally alcohol like wine or ale. Pancakes take various forms around the world, from the wafer-thin, buttery French crepe to the savory, crispier Japanese okonomiyaki.
   

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5. Carlitos: In Argentina it is a traditional sweet dish. There is even a famous chain (“Lo’ de Carlitos”). that only serves this dessert. It emerged in Mar Del Plata, and now it has expanded to the rest of the country.
   

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6. Blood: In Sweden you can order Blodplättar, which are pancakes made of pork blood.

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   Art: Pancakes can be used as an artistic medium, based on the portraiture of artist Katherine Kalnes, who constructed likenesses of celebrities such as Ryan Gosling.

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8. Tradition: For newcomers Pancake Tuesday perhaps does not make sense, but in Ireland it is a deeply rooted tradition especially in the family environment, but if you feel alone or bored you can take advantage of this celebration because it is a good excuse to share a cup of tea with friends, having a chat and also, the most important thing, practice English.