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The inner child in everybody longs for Shrove Tuesday to come around each year – there is simply nothing better than having an excuse to eat as many deliciously decadent pancakes as possible. In 2015, that day just so happens to arrive on Tuesday, February 17.
Whatever the toppings of choice on each pancake – be they sugar and lemon juice, Nutella and banana, or even a savoury combination of bacon and cheese – every mouthful will be gloriously satisfying.
The tradition of scoffing these calorific treats every Pancake Tuesday was thought up by Christians, who wanted to enjoy one last fat-fuelled meal before embarking upon the fasting period of Lent.
According to the Bible, Lent commemorates the 40 days in which Jesus Christ spent fasting in the desert being tempted by Satan before beginning his ministry – and devout Christians solemnly observe this period by giving up certain luxuries as a form of penitence.
Now, Shrove Tuesday – or Pancake Tuesday – is observed every year in the western world, although how many people actually forgo certain luxuries during the period of Lent that follows is up for debate…
Here are 15 amazing facts that help to make this tradition even more special…
15. Pingu Is A Pancake Fiend
Pingu, everyone’s favourite clay penguin, is normally associated with kid’s TV programmes and not pancakes.
However, in an episode in the fifth series of the show, Pingu tries to help his mother make pancakes – and ends up spraying the batter all over himself, the ceiling and the entire room.
This humorous episode is so popular, in fact, that it is the most-viewed pancake video on Youtube – with almost 14million hits!
14. Perfect For A Poultry’s Libido
Nowadays, pancakes are loved all over the world as a tasty, delicious and decadently sweet treat.
Yet the first fried egg batter mixture ever made in the Midlands was actually used as an aphrodisiac for chickens – in order to ensure that the hens were fertile throughout the entire year.
Who knew poultry needed such encouragement in that department?
13. Christmas Has Santa Claus, Shrove Tuesday Has The Pancake Bunny
Ever wondered where pancakes came from? Much like presents being brought down the chimney at Christmas time by Santa Claus, it appears the Japanese acquire their pancakes in an extremely unusual and mystical fashion…
A Japanese blogger first placed a photo of a rabbit with two pancakes on its head online in 2010, and ever since Hironori’s blog has received 2.5million hits – inspiring a book about the supposedly fictional character.
Thankfully, the trend of dressing rabbits in pancake headgear has yet to take off in the United Kingdom…
12. Pancakes? That’s An Egg-Cellent Idea
Due to the fact that on average two pancakes are consumed by each person on Shrove Tuesday in Britain, 52million eggs will be cracked and added to the batter mix – an astonishing 22million more than on a normal day.
Interestingly, 13million kilograms of flour will also be used in the batter mix across Britain – and that will be combined with enough milk to fill more than 90 Olympic swimming pools.
11. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
Before baking soda became widely available in the mid-19th Century, bakers needed other forms of ammonia in order to create soft and airy pancakes.
This led to many chefs adding snow – yes, the semi-frozen water that falls from the sky – into the batter mix in order to create a perfectly light and fluffy treat.
10. Flipping Heck!
In terms of world records, the widest pancake ever flipped was a mind-boggling 15metres in diameter – and was cooked in Rochdale in 1994.
To put that into perspective, that is the same length as a double-decker bus!
It’s a good job two didn’t come along at once isn’t it…
9. The Leaning Tower Of Pancakes
Stack up 242 pancakes to a height of 91.2cm and what does it make? The Leaning Tower of Pancakes, of course…
In 2014, those 242 pancakes did in fact break the Guinness World Record for the largest stack of the baked goods ever assembled.
Achieved at Efteling theme park in the Netherlands by chefs John Pijnappels and Humphrey den Otter, the much-coveted record is likely to stand for some time to come…
8. Tomato Ketchup And Mustard Pancake, Anyone?
Sugar and lemon juice, banana and nutella, even ham and cheese – these are ingredients that most people would choose as their go-to fillings on Pancake Tuesday.
However, some more unusual pairings are combined on Shrove Tuesday around the world.
Sour cream and caviar is a favourite in Scandinavia, peanut butter and ice cream is enjoyed in the USA, while Coco Pops and cream is much-loved in Southern Europe.
Arguably the most bizarre combination, however, is found in Eastern Europe – where tomato ketchup and mustard are mixed and spread across a pancake. Very strange indeed…
7. Fat Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday? Pancake Tuesday? Well, in France, Sweden and Brazil it is known as “Fat Tuesday” or “Grease Tuesday”.
Mardi Gras is the French name for Pancake Tuesday and comes from the Parisians’ ancient tradition of parading a fat ox through the nation’s capital, while the Brazilians call it Terca-feira gorda, and the Swedes Fettisdagen. In Iceland, the day is known as Sprengidgaur – which literally translates as “bursting day”.
Interestingly though, in Italy the day is refered to as Carnivale – which is derived from the Latin, “goodbye to the flesh”.
6. The Lengths People Will Go To For Sweet Things
Jan Stickland ran 384 metres in 59.5 seconds during a pancake race in Melbourne, Australia, back in February 1985.
That time of a little less than one minute to cover 384m remains the quickest at which somebody has run that distance with a pancake.
Granted, that’s quite a specific record though.
5. Cheating On Pancake Tuesday… For More Than 130 years
It is quite common for people to buy pancake ready-mix from the supermarket on Shrove Tuesday rather than purchase all of the ingredients individually.
However, this is not a new phenomenon – the first ready-mix food sold commercially was pancake flour.
Aunt Jemima’s ready-mix pancake flour was invented in 1889 in Missouri, USA, and sold to the southern American market.
4. Maple Syrup Could Have Been As Popular Coca Cola
Maple syrup is a delicious topping for pancakes, particularly in the United States of America, and is a firm breakfast-table favourite in Canada.
Yet originally, the indigenous populations of North America – including the Algonquin Indians – used maple tree sap as a replacement for water, as well as to cook venison for the tribe’s chief.
It was later refined to become a stickier, thicker syrup rather than a fluid for drinking – meaning it is not a common beverage nowadays.
3. Religious… Or Simply Superstitious?
Pancake Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday, marks the beginning of the Christian period of Lent – yet the French and the Canadians seem to have added superstitious connotations to the day as well.
In Newfoundland, Canada, items such as a thimbles and coins are added to the pancake batter and baked – before the person who discovers the item interprets what it means. One example is that a coin could mean your family is going to enjoy future prosperity.
Meanwhile, in France, it is tradition to grip the frying pan handle, hold a coin in the other hand and then make a wish while the pancake is being flipped.
2. The Great Pancake Games
Picture the scene: there are 890 people, standing together in a room, flipping pancakes simultaneously. Seems improbable, doesn’t it?
But no, in February 2012, 890 people did gather in Sheffield, England, to flip pancakes together and set a new record. Yes, really…
1. Leftovers Don’t Half Taste Delicious
Pancakes are believed to have originated in prehistoric times but they became popular in the 1400s as a way of using up fatty and rich foods.
Obviously the tradition of Pancake Tuesday evolved as a result of this, with the baked goods being the most efficient way of using up the leftover fatty foods before Lent started.
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