Pancake Day

Pancake Day is an annual American holiday that celebrates saying goodbye to winter and welcoming the coming spring. It has no exact date. It is customary to celebrate the holiday eight weeks before Easter.

History

Pancake Day gets its name from the fact that the main dish for its celebration is pancakes. They are believed to have been cooked for thousands of years before Christ. Ancient people crumbled grains or beans to obtain a kind of flour. They combined this flour with water and fried improvised thin flatbreads on flat sheets of stone instead of a frying pan.

Since about the 15th century, the pancake recipe has become very popular. They were made with wheat flour, butter, honey, and sour milk. During the Renaissance, the dessert was supplemented with sweet spices, wine, fruit, and berries.

The celebration of Pancake Day also precedes Lent. This day, as well as several others, has one goal: to eat well in order to strictly follow Lent, which ends with Easter. This holiday can be found with some differences in many cultures around the world. Its essence remains the same, only the holiday traditions change.

Interesting Facts

• At one Shrovetide celebration in England, the tallest stack of pancakes, 82 cm high and consisting of 725 pancakes, was prepared.
• In Russia in 2010, the biggest pancake was baked, which was 1,000 meters long.
• The oldest holiday competition in Great Britain is the pancake race. Participants must run while holding a pan with a pancake in one hand. The goal is to get it safely to the finish line.

How to Celebrate

Delight yourself and your loved ones with delicious pancakes on Pancake Day. Visit a bakery or make them yourself. Do not be afraid to use other ingredients: cottage cheese, sour cream, fresh berries, or jam. There are so many options!

Spread the word on social media. Ask other users what traditions they follow on Pancake Day.

When is Pancake Day in 2024?

Pancake Day is observed on the day before Ash Wednesday each year.

Observations