The Forgotten Holiday: Pancake Day February 16!

Looking at today's celebrations, I realised one was missing that we are celebrating in the UK: PANCAKE DAY! I have contacted earthcalender.net, who we use to get the information on Holidays, and have told them to add it to their list!

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)