Shrove Tuesday - pancake day in the UK

[Mad Cook]

Not exactly a holiday as such but it's pancake day next Tuesday (3rd March - Shrove Tuesday). Supposed to be the day when good housewives used up ingredients prior to the Lenten fast. Now it seems to be yet another excuse for food manufacturers to encourage extravagance. There's an entry on Google headed "How to make Pancake Day Less Expensive". Huh? An egg, some flour, milk and water and a bit of oil or fat to cook them in - expensive? (The Google thing is about economising by making your own fillings rather than buying expensive store ones.)

What is your favourite pancake filling? Our pancakes are thin and a bit like French crepes and I still like lemon juice and sugar best - takes me back to my childhood.

Do people in north America have pancakes as a traditional food on Shrove Tuesday? Or doesn't it figure in the American calendar? I know about Mardi Gras but that's only New Orleans, isn't it? A wee bit wilder than over here although some villages have pancake tossing races and there is the famous shove Tuesday foot ball match at Ashbourne in Derbyshire. Forget the pancake race! Hundreds take to the streets for ancient Shrove Tuesday football match | Mail Online

 

[jabbur]

Some places around the US do celebrate shrove Tuesday with pancakes. In my church, it traditionally is celebrated by the youth sponsoring a pancake supper Tuesday night as a fund raiser for their programs. Generally following the meal we have our church variety show where folks show off their talents of singing, dancing, interpretive readings, comedy and such. Generally a wonderful evening.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Shrove Tuesday is observed, pancakes are available at the facility for those who would like.

 

[menumaker]

I'm with you MC. It has to be CASTER sugar for me ( yes, I know that's probably picky, so what? ) and lemon juice. We had a German Shepherd dog when I was a kid that would sit and drool by the stove when my mum made pancakes waiting for his one. However, he would not touch it until she put on the sugar and lemon!!

 

[Aunt Bea]

Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday has more of a Polish slant in my area, many people refer to it as Doughnut Day or Paczki Day.

Paczki Day - All About Paczki Day - Polish Paczki

 

[Rocket_J_Dawg]

It's celebrated here too. Also in Germany where it is known as Faschingsdienstag which marks the end of the Fasching Karnival.

 

[Whiskadoodle]

I knew Pancake Day was coming up soon. Thanks for singing out the date. Better dust off my Mardi Gras Beads.

We were caught up in Mardi Gras twice, once in Puerto Vallarta and once in Mazatlan MX. After Mardi Gras was over in Mazatlan, some wealthy rancher flew us, a few other couples he met and his personally hired mariachi band to his ranch for a week of more partying, horseback riding, and nightly bbq's. It was the first time I ever ate bbq goat and goat stew. More cerveza, cheap rum and good tequila than I could possibly consume today.

I usually just make plain pancakes for my/our own pancake day. I am not familiar with any church or community events. I think stuffed pancakes sounds festive. My favorites are Swedish pancakes, rolled crepes made thin using lots of eggs, stuffed with strawberries and whip cream. I should think about this a bit. I think I read somewhere California strawberries are available.

 

[Zagut]

Thank you Mad Cook.

I was wondering why all the church's around here were having pancake suppers next Tuesday.

Now I know.

BTW. I think Tuesday is the 4th.

At least on this side of the pond.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday has more of a Polish slant in my area, many people refer to it as Doughnut Day or Paczki Day.

Paczki Day - All About Paczki Day - Polish Paczki

Paczi were the norm in my Cleveland area Polish neighborhood when I was growing up. Still are even thought the neighborhood isn't very Polish anymore. My Nana made them for Fat Tuesday every year but they are different than the kind your link shows. Her's were a mashed potato donut, more like a powdered sugar rock than the pillows pictured in your link. They're actually very tender and moist and never lasted long no matter what time of the year she made them. She rarely filled them. We probably had them all gone by the time she was ready to do that anyway!

 

[Cooking Goddess]

...I think I read somewhere California strawberries are available.

They might be, but this is peak season for Florida berries - the superior tasting variety in my opinion. We went to spring training down in Winter Haven a couple years in a row. All March long the scent of strawberry was in the air all through the growing area. California berries seem to be improving in flavor lately. I've also noticed that the Cali berries (not to be confused with Halle Berry) are getting smaller. Bigger is not always better.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Why do I never get to be by strawberry fields or orange groves...I always have an onion or garlic field nearby...oh yeah, Ogre....

 

[Whiskadoodle]

They might be, but this is peak season for Florida berries - the superior tasting variety in my opinion. We went to spring training down in Winter Haven a couple years in a row. All March long the scent of strawberry was in the air all through the growing area. California berries seem to be improving in flavor lately. I've also noticed that the Cali berries (not to be confused with Halle Berry) are getting smaller. Bigger is not always better.

--
Since this is as much about Fat Tuesday, I once read Louisiana produces superior Strawberries too.

I have never seen Florida berries make it this far north. Dang railroaders and shippers all have berry stained fingers all along their routes. We were on vacation in south Fl. Saw a "Pick your own berries" sign. It was a tarmac parking lot with oversized Styrofoam tiered pots of berries. Very efficient, no need to get your knees all dirty bending over, and when the ripe berries were picked, they could just wheel in new pots. Very tasty too, I might add.

The California berries we usually get are of the "bigger is better" type, often not as juicy. I Know, having tasted, there are non-hybridized juicy full flavored berries grown in Ca. They may not ship as well.

However, in early March when the temps and weather are iffy, one should be satisfied with what is available --

 

[Whiskadoodle]

No comments about the March Hare enjoying its pancakes ?

I stirred up a batch of Buttermilk pancakes and the batter is starting to bubble in the bowl.

Going to legally enjoy pancakes for breakfast today. No berries. Butter and maple syrup.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I don't care to find a hare in my pancakes!

Great picture!

I cheated this morning and made a pouch of buttermilk pancake mix.

Three fat pancakes with real maple syrup, butter and some crispy bacon washed down with a glass of skim milk!

The poor old glucometer went over 300 this morning!

 

[Whiskadoodle]

O yes. I forgot to mention. I have bacon on hand right now too. I don't often buy bacon because if it gets too crispy or is too wobbly, it is hard to chew. Been paying real close attn. so it gets cooked just right.

 

[LPBeier]

I am making some gluten/dairy/egg free pancakes for our breakfast. They are not as bad as they sound, in fact they are rather good because I use a coconut milk/flax meal mixture for the eggs and it gives them a light texture and nice flavour (no, they don't taste of coconut).

I use my ceramic non-stick pan so very little oil is needed and yet they still come out brown and yummy.

We always had pancakes on "Fat Tuesday" but I didn't know the significance until I grew up and started going to church. TB had the tradition in his family as well so we have just made it work for us!

 

[LPBeier]

O yes. I forgot to mention. I have bacon on hand right now too. I don't often buy bacon because if it gets too crispy or is too wobbly, it is hard to chew. Been paying real close attn. so it gets cooked just right.

I think I will do some bacon for TB, but I have to stay away from fat so will have some fresh fruit instead!

 

[Zagut]

I think I will do some bacon for TB, but I have to stay away from fat so will have some fresh fruit instead!

Jack Sprat could eat no fat. His wife could eat no lean. And so betwixt the two of them They licked the platter clean.


Sorry. It just popped into my head.

 

[Mad Cook]

Thank you Mad Cook.

I was wondering why all the church's around here were having pancake suppers next Tuesday.

Now I know.

BTW. I think Tuesday is the 4th.

At least on this side of the pond.

Durr, so it was. (I could have said that I was just testing but I decided to be honest)

 

[Mad Cook]

--
Since this is as much about Fat Tuesday, I once read Louisiana produces superior Strawberries too.

I have never seen Florida berries make it this far north. Dang railroaders and shippers all have berry stained fingers all along their routes. We were on vacation in south Fl. Saw a "Pick your own berries" sign. It was a tarmac parking lot with oversized Styrofoam tiered pots of berries. Very efficient, no need to get your knees all dirty bending over, and when the ripe berries were picked, they could just wheel in new pots. Very tasty too, I might add.

The California berries we usually get are of the "bigger is better" type, often not as juicy. I Know, having tasted, there are non-hybridized juicy full flavored berries grown in Ca. They may not ship as well.

However, in early March when the temps and weather are iffy, one should be satisfied with what is available --

Love the bunny rabbit is s/he a family member?

Blueberries as on sale here all year round. Much hyped as a "super food" so very expensive. The thing is, they don't taste of anything. Knowing the American passion for blueberries I assume they don't travel well or else someone has developed a strain that produces quantity at the cost of quality. Mostly they seem to be imported from South America
I wonder if they taste better cooked. Probably not.

We do, however have bilberries, (aka whinberries, whortleberries, etc) which are related to blueberries. They have a very limited season and are very delicate so aren't much grown commercially but years ago people used to go in droves onto the moors to pick them for making pies, jam etc. I can remember my grandmother making bilberry pie once a year when I was little and even today one of the family-run butchers in Glossop (north Derbyshire) sells their own home baked bilberry pies using local wild bilberries. Sadly the season doesn't coincide with pancake day although we can buy jars of Polish bilberries but they aren't the same.