What day is it today? Do you call it Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday or maybe pancake Tuesday?
If I were in Italy, I would call today Martedi’ grasso – lit. Fat Tuesday – and I would spend it eating frappe, castagnole and bringing my kids around town dressed up in costumes throwing confetti. But since this year we are spending carnival in Ireland, the tradition we are following is different: it doesn’t involve dressing up but it does include a food related tradition: eating pancakes.
The first time I heard of the name ‘Pancake Tuesday’, I laughed. I never heard of this tradition before and the idea that a common enough food could have its special day left me amused, to say the least. But when I looked into the tradition a bit more, I discovered there is a story behind it and this, cultural tourist that I am, made me embrace the idea full heartedly.
Pancake day history
Mardi Gras or pancake Tuesday falls on the day before Ash Wednesday, the day that marks the beginning of the 40 days of Christian Lent. In memory of the Passion of the Christ, lent is for the Christian community a time of penitence and abstinence, a time for giving things up, and since early Christian times this abstinence is expressed through the following of a restricted diet, usually avoiding the consumption of meat and high fat foods.
Fasting was a common religious practice also in pre-Christian times but such a prolonged period of abstinence posed a bit of a conflict: at a time when preservation of food wasn’t easy, how to make sure that 40 days of abstinence wouldn’t turn into a waste of leftover food?
So here is where the tradition of making pancakes started: the day before the beginning of lent, after having visited a priest and having sins absolved, pancakes would be prepared, as a way to use up eggs and fatty dairy products before having to give them up.
The tradition became sticky and the Anglo-Saxon part of the work still celebrates it. I personally like pancakes and while I still prepare frappe for carnival, I will have no problem in partaking in this feast as well.
My favourite kind of pancakes are the ones prepared French style (thin and non-spongy) so this is the recipe I will be going for this afternoon.
Want to virtually join me? This is how I make them:
Best Ever pancake recipe
Ingredients for about 24 crêpes (depending on the size of pan and how thick you like them)
French crêpes ingredients:
- 250 gr white flour
- 1 pinch of salt
- 30 gr caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 0.5 litre milk(room temperature)
- 60 gr butter
In a bowl, put the flour, the eggs and the caster sugar. Mix well and then add the milk slowly to the mixture, stirring all the time to make a smooth batter. I use a wooden spoon to mix, but if you have a whisk, that may be better as helps it come out smoother.
As soon as this is ready, cook the butter until just nut-brown and then add to the mixture: mix quickly and then set to rest outside of the fridge for about 1 hour. Many recipes do not call for leaving the batter to rest, but I do find there is a distinctive difference in texture when you do take the time to follow this step and the result is significantly better.
When you are ready to start cooking your pancakes, heat a non stick pan, add a tiny amount of vegetable oil (this might not be needed, depending on the pan you have) and heat until very hot. With a big spoon, pour a small amount of the batter in the pan and coat the bottom of it with it. Make sure you just pour enough batter to make a very thin pancake: if you pour too much, it will come out soggy instead of crisp and will be way less yummy.
Cook your pancake until brown on both sides: you can use a spatula to flip it, but a good pan will not allow it to stick, making the cooking and the turning of the pancake very easy.
When ready, put the pancake on a large plate off the heat and sprinkle with some sugar. Then, move on to make the next pancake and, when ready, take it off the heat and put it on top of the first one: the sugar you sprinkle will prevent them from sticking to each other. Keep cooking pancakes until you used all the batter.
Dress with any sweet treat you fancy and serve hot!
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I’ll pick crepes over pancakes any day of the week! Happy Fat Tuesday!
hehe, great minds! Hope you had some good ones yesterday 🙂
Those look incredible. I love making pancakes, and like you prefer mine thing and non-spongy, although I’ll often include fruit in the mix, sometimes mashed bananas and sometimes applesauce (or both). I’m unfamiliar with Caster sugar though. What is that?
Ah, the fruit is a nice touch! When I first moved to Ireland I didn’t know about caster sugar either but it’s just a fancy name for super fine, granulated sugar: it’s great for baking as it gives a slightly smoother texture. T make these, normal unpretentious sugar is also perfect 😉
Marta, I tried your recipie yesterday and it was a success. It was my first time making pancakes, but my little girls already said: “Mum will pancake also next year!”.
I love this! When kids approve of something that is not totally unhealthy, it’s the best feeling in the world 🙂
Yesssss! Crepes!!! Love. And I feel like this is something easy I can actually try.
Love Crepes…though have never tried them at home. The best ones I tried were off a cafe in Paris
Pancakes always beat crepes in my book but I’ve never tried making them. Looks delish!
I love crepes but I have never tried to make them. I will have to remember to make sure and use your tip to let the batter rest for an hour. Pinning for future reference!
Crepes totally trump pancakes! I miss the crepes I’d eat in Europe.
You can’t beat a true French crepe in a local creperie, but these are nice and come out surprisingly similar to the real thing!
I’d wondered why pancakes were prepared on this day – thanks for the insight!
hehe if you ever need an excuse to have a pancake on that day, now you have it 😉
I love pancakes (also with honey) and crepes:) Didn’t know the story behind Fat Tuesday, though was aware of the fact that several carnivals are celebrated before the beginning of Lent..thanks a tonne!
Ohh honey with crepes is a match made in heaven!
Jummiiiiieee!!! In Belgium we don’t do Mardi Gras but we do have “la Chandeleur” on 2nd February, where we also have to eat crêpes. You’re not allowed to eat the first one. You have to take a piece of gold in your left hand and turn around the crêpe with your right hand (by making in ‘jump’, not really sure how else to say this in English :)). Once it’s baked, you let it dry a bit and you have to keep it until the next year. If the crêpe falls correctly back into the pan when you turn it, you won’t have financial problems in the year to come, haha 🙂 Oh and I add a little bit of olive oil in the mixture, that makes the crêpes just a little bit more crusty and even better 🙂
Oh wow, I loved reading about this tradition! And I can’t believe I didn’t know about it: I lived in Brussels for almost two years and never in February I was ever offered a crepe!! I guess we were all students and had no gold to go with it hehe 😉 Good tip about the olive oil, I will definitely try next time I make them, thank you!