In the UK Shrove Tuesday is also known as Pancake Day because it is the one day of the year that nearly everyone eats a pancake!
It was originally a religious day, as the last day before the Christian lent. It was a tradition to eat pancakes on this day as it was seen as your last chance to indulge yourself and use up the foods that aren't allowed during lent such as fat, butter and eggs. Today, however, most people celebrate Pancake Day just for the pancakes and do not recognise it as a religious event. I know a huge and dedicated fan of Pancake Day and she is an Atheist!
Shrove Tuesday is always 47 days before Easter Sunday so the date varies from year to year and falls between 3rd February and 9th March.
A pancake is a thin, flat cake made of batter and fried in a pan. Usually once it is cooked people put caster sugar or lemon juice over the pancake . You can also add things like berries, golden syrup, jam and melted chocolate.
Quite a few different countries celebrate Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day, but perhaps have different names for it. They are all listed below:
UK, Ireland, Australia: Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day
Brazil: Terça-feira Gorda (Fat Tuesday) - the final day of Brazilian carnival
Greece: Apocreas (from the meat) they also don't eat meat during lent
Sweden: Fettisdagen - Fat Tuesday
USA: In Catholic and French-speaking parts of the US it is called Mardi Gras
Germany: Fastnacht (Also spelt "Fasnacht", "Fasenacht", "Fasteloven" (in the Rhine area) or "Fasching" in Bavaria.)
France: Mardi Gras (Grease or Fat Tuesday)
Iceland: Sprengidagur (Bursting Day)
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