Pancakes

Tradition

In the UK, there is a much-loved tradition of making and eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, which falls between February 2 and March 9 each year, depending on the date for Easter. In 2010, Shrove Tuesday falls on 16 February. Shrove Tuesday ('shrove' stems from old English word 'shrive', meaning 'confess all sins') is the day before Lent.

According to Christian beliefs, Lent commemorates Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness, and observant Christians mark this period by fasting. So Shrove Tuesday was cleverly invented to use up the ingredients that were given up for Lent - milk, butter and, particularly, eggs - which may not be eaten again until Easter.

Customs and celebrations

In other parts of the world, Shrove Tuesday is marked by quite different celebrations. In New Orleans, for example, it's celebrated with the Mardi Gras, and in Rio de Janeiro with the equally raucous carnival.

Other old customs include the annual pancake grease at London's Westminster school (schoolboys fighting for pancakes in return for a monetary reward); Mischief Night (breaking into people's houses in disguise and demanding pancakes); Lent Crocking or Lensharding (throwing old crockery at people's doors and asking for pancakes to be tossed back), and shroving - a visiting custom in which children sang or recited poetry in exchange for food or money.

Pancakes in the UK

The UK once had a thriving regional cuisine, with the various counties boasting their unique culinary specialities - and pancakes were no exception.

In England, Gloucester pancakes were made with suet, which gave them a rich, grainy texture. They were the size of a large scone, fried in lard, and served with golden syrup. Elsewhere, there were 'harvest pancakes for the poor' and 'pancakes for the rich'. The former was quick-cooking, portable food that was eaten by farm labourers. The batter was made with mild ale, powdered ginger and, sometimes, chopped apple, and small ladlefuls were cooked in lard. The 'rich' pancakes, on the other hand, were large and thin. They were made with cream, nutmeg, dark sherry, rosewater or orange flower water, and cooked in butter.

Pancakes around the world

Just about every country has its own version of the pancake. Some of the best-known are: buckwheat flour galettes of Brittany, chickpea-flour socca of Nice, and the crêpes found all over France; chickpea/flour farinata of Liguria, and chestnut flour necci from Lucca and Pistoia in Italy; sweet Cretan tiganítes of Greece; fragrant rosewater-spiked ataif of the Middle East; potato latkes and Ashkenazi cheese blintzes of Israel; Moroccan semolina baghrir; numerous spicy chickpea and black-eye bean pancakes of Africa; huge crisp wheat-flour and potato pancakes of the Netherlands; and Russian buckwheat-flour blinis.

Recipes

If you're tempted to try something more adventurous, give one of these recipes a go:

• Goan coconut pancakes by Cyrus Todiwala from Saturday Kitchen
• American pancakes by Celia Brooks Brown from New Vegetarian
• Chickpea flour pancakes by Madhur Jaffrey from Flavours of India
• Blinis by Auguste Escoffier
• Buckwheat pancake batter by Darina Allen and Rosemary Kearney

Or, for a taste of tradition, try one of these:

• Basic pancakes with sugar and lemon by Delia Smith
• Classic crêpes suzettes by Delia Smith
• Homemade instant pancake mix with blueberry syrup by Nigella Lawson from Nigella Express