Pancake Day 2017

Its here! The one day a year where its completely acceptable to make a mess of your kitchen and stick food to the ceiling all in the name of Lent. As most of you know Pancake day or Shrove Tuesday falls on the Tuesday 28th February 2017 and it is definitely one of the annual celebrations not to be missed.

What is the meaning of pancake day?

Pancake day was the day before the start of lent, the purpose of this is the preparation of the believer through prayer, penance and repentance of sins which all sounds a bit ominous to us however we love pancakes so we’re not giving up ‘faith’. Christians often fast or give up luxuries in their lifestyle as a form of penance for the duration of lent which commonly lasts for 40 days.

So Why Pancakes?

We’re not complaining however we are very curious how this tasty flat food became the symbol of the imminent start for many religious people all over the world. We got our best pancake nerds onto it and managed to find out the pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent because they were used by people as a way to use up rich foods such as milk, eggs and sugar, before the fasting season. That’s not all! In addition, pancakes, in Christianity, symbolise “four pillars of the Christian faith these are eggs for creation, flour as the mainstay of the human diet, salt for wholesomeness and milk for purity.” Some people take it a step further and last the whole 40 days eating only plain food and refraining from food that tastes really nice. In many cultures, this means no meat, dairy products, or eggs we like to think of it as going vegan for a whole 40 days, which is something our resident vegan Aaron is happy about.

Celebrations

Turns out our pancake stuffed boffins in the office have found out even more! People don’t just eat pancakes to celebrate the lent season. In Kansas there is an annual race between two towns the points from the two towns runners are all added up and a winner is presented with a trophy. If this sounds like something you might want to get involved in there is a UK equivalent in the UK held in Lincolnshire.

In a very ‘Halloweenesque’ (we’re sure that is not a word) evening of giving children in Lancashire knock on their neighbours doors as ask ‘Please a pancake’ to receive sweets or in some cases orange. (we would much prefer the sweets)

In London, the Rehab Parliamentary Pancake Race takes place every Shrove Tuesday, it comprises of a few teams one from the House of Commons another from the House of Lords. They all race competing for the title of Parliamentary Pancake Race Champions. The race is to raise awareness of Rehab, which provides a range of health and social care, training, education, and employment services in the UK for disabled people and others who are marginalised.

Images from: https://www.awarenessdays.co.uk/