1 You should be having a word with yourself on Pancake Day, not just stuffing your face
Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the word ‘shrive’, meaning to confess.
Pancake Day was traditionally a time of introspection, confession and penance for Christians. Now it’s less about penance and more about pancakes.
2 You’re supposed to fast afterwards
Pancake Day is also called Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday because it’s a time for carb-loading ahead of the Lent fast, which begins on Ash Wednesday. So no leftover pancakes for breakfast then.
3 …and that’s why we eat pancakes on Pancake Day
The Lent fast traditionally omits rich foods or those that would give pleasure in favour of plain food. Pancakes were made to use up rich ingredients before the 40-day fast. Back then that meant eggs, milk, and sugar. Now it means Nutella too.
4 Pancakes are quite literally the food of the gods
Pancake Day was originally a pagan festival that sprang from Slavs’ belief that they had to help the gods of spring and fertility fight against the evil gods of cold and darkness, which is something I think we can all get behind. Those pagans had a point.
5 Pancakes symbolise the sun
Those pancake-loving pagans created the hot, round pancake in the sun’s image in the hopes it would banish the evil winter gods and invoke springtime and warmer weather. Hell yes.
6 Pancakes give you power
See above… The Slavs believed that eating pancakes gave them the power, light and warmth of the sun.
We now know they just give us a warm, fuzzy feeling and a sugar high, which is pretty much the same thing.
7 Not everyone eats pancakes on Pancake Day
In Iceland the day is known as Sprengidagur (Bursting Day) and salted meat and peas are on the menu. Both Finland and Estonia mark the day by eating green pea soup. Yes, we know. We sent our condolences.
8 Pancakes can make you happier and change the world
According to Nataly Kogan’s Ted talk How Pancakes Can Make You Happier And Change The World, focusing on small positive moments that are part of our every day – and sharing them to make someone else smile – makes us happy, and happiness is contagious.
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