Why Pancake Day Falls Before Lent
A pancake is a thin flat cake fried in a pan. Britain eats them on Shrove Tuesday for a reason that is entirely practical.
A pancake is batter fried flat in a pan. Britain's Pancake Day is Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent, and the reason is housekeeping rather than symbolism: eggs, milk and fat had to be used up before the fast began, and a pancake uses all three.
- A thin flat fried cake. *Pancakes with lemon and sugar.*
- Flat as a pancake — completely flat. *The tyre was flat as a pancake.*
- Pancake landing — a heavy flat landing. *The aircraft made a pancake landing.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | pancake | A thin pancake. |
| Plural | pancakes | A stack of pancakes. |
| Compound | Pancake Day | Pancake Day races. |
| Related | crêpe | A French crêpe. |
| Related | batter | Pancake batter. |
How it is used in a sentence
- We always have pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.British tradition.
- American pancakes are thicker and use a raising agent.The two are quite different dishes.
- The field was flat as a pancake.A very old simile.
Pancakes around the world
- Crêpe — very thin, French
- American pancake — thick, raised with baking powder
- Blini — small yeasted Russian pancakes
- Injera — large sour Ethiopian flatbread, fermented
- Okonomiyaki — a savoury Japanese pancake with cabbage
A plain compound of *pan* and *cake*, recorded from the fifteenth century. *Shrove* comes from *shrive*, to hear confession, which is what the day was for.
Why are pancakes eaten before Lent?
To use up eggs, milk and fat before the fasting period, when they were traditionally given up.
What is a pancake race?
A race in which competitors run while tossing a pancake in a pan. The best-known is at Olney in Buckinghamshire, said to date from 1445.