Chewing the Fat Tuesday
Today may be Mardi Gras, but being English, this day is very special for another reason. It's Pancake Day!
Of course you could argue every day is Pancake Day in the U.S. All the major breakfast places sell them. But American pancakes are not what I'm talking about. Pancake day is not about two inch thick foam frisbees, it's about light fluffy folded crepes dusted with icing sugar and sprinkled with lemon juice.
It's about coming home from school to smell the butter toasting in the pan, a measuring jug full of creamy batter waiting patiently to be poured in, little by little. It's about swirling the batter until it just coats the bottom of the pan. Then for the exciting part. You don't just use a spatular to flip the pancake over. You wait for the bubbles to burst on the top, the batter to set, then flip it up as high as the ceiling. It turns around mid air like a trapeze artist before gently floating back into the pan.
England is so happy to celebrate Pancake Day, that entire TV programmes are devoted to it. The highlight has always been the BBC children's magazine programme Blue Peter. Each year the newest member of the team would be forced to make a pancake live on air! What fun as the batter burnt or the pancake fell onto the studio floor when flipped!
In some parts of the UK people even take part in Pancake races. They run down the streets with frying pans in a mad dash to the finish line.
Regular readers will already know about my own pancake making prowess (Jan 31st 2008) so I won't blame you if you don't turn up with an empty plate at the ready later today. Personally, I'm off to IHOP.
Of course you could argue every day is Pancake Day in the U.S. All the major breakfast places sell them. But American pancakes are not what I'm talking about. Pancake day is not about two inch thick foam frisbees, it's about light fluffy folded crepes dusted with icing sugar and sprinkled with lemon juice.
It's about coming home from school to smell the butter toasting in the pan, a measuring jug full of creamy batter waiting patiently to be poured in, little by little. It's about swirling the batter until it just coats the bottom of the pan. Then for the exciting part. You don't just use a spatular to flip the pancake over. You wait for the bubbles to burst on the top, the batter to set, then flip it up as high as the ceiling. It turns around mid air like a trapeze artist before gently floating back into the pan.
England is so happy to celebrate Pancake Day, that entire TV programmes are devoted to it. The highlight has always been the BBC children's magazine programme Blue Peter. Each year the newest member of the team would be forced to make a pancake live on air! What fun as the batter burnt or the pancake fell onto the studio floor when flipped!
In some parts of the UK people even take part in Pancake races. They run down the streets with frying pans in a mad dash to the finish line.
Regular readers will already know about my own pancake making prowess (Jan 31st 2008) so I won't blame you if you don't turn up with an empty plate at the ready later today. Personally, I'm off to IHOP.
posted by Hilary at
7:19 AM
2 Comments:
Oh Hilary - now we have to make pancakes this evening. Thanks to your powers of description, I will be anticipating the event all day..Stephanie
By
Anonymous, at 8:12 AM
i miss pancake day with you after school. i went to dudleys today in barnet for a lovely pancake with haloumi, tomato, aubergine and olive on it. was massive xxx
Abi x
By
Anonymous, at 4:02 PM
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