Shrove Tuesday – more commonly known as Pancake Day, or Pancake Tuesday, is celebrated every year to mark the first day of Lent.
Eating pancakes on this day is celebrated worldwide, and the idea of eating pancakes before Ash Wednesday dates back to over a thousand years ago.
Here are 12 flippin’ awesome facts about Pancake Day and pancakes in general.
Traditionally, during Lent, foods such as eggs, flour, fat, and sugar are not allowed to be eaten, so Shrove Tuesday was the day to use up the ingredients, and Pancakes are the best (and tastiest) way to use them up.
“Shrove” comes from the word “Shrive,” which means to confess.
A village in England called Olney, Buckinghamshire celebrates Shrove Tuesday with a pancake race; they were the first to celebrate Pancake Day in this way and have been racing since 1445.
In the US, Pancake Day is commonly known as “Mardi Gras,” which is French for “Fat Tuesday.”
In 1994, a record for the largest pancake ever tossed measured 15.01m wide, 2.5cm deep, and weighed 3 tonnes!
In 1995, Dean Gould achieved the world record for tossing the most amount of pancakes in two minutes, and he managed 349 flips!
In Ireland, the day is known as Máirt Inide, which is Irish for “Shrovetide Tuesday.”
In France, it is tradition to make a wish while the pancake is being tossed, holding a coin in the other hand.
In Iceland, the day is known as Sprengidagur, which translates to Bursting Day. It is celebrated by eating salted meat and peas!
In the UK, 52 million eggs are eaten on Pancake Day, which is 22 million more than on any other day of the year!
The second side of a pancake takes half the amount of time to cook as the first – a good tip to remember.
On average, people consume two pancakes per person on Shrove Tuesday.
Pancake day happens every year on Tuesday to mark the first day of Lent.
There are a million-and-one ways to have your pancake, so what’s your favorite?
