Valencia Trader

Pancake Day, Shrove Tuesday

16th February 2010 is Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day.

The reason that pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent is that the 40 days of Lent form a period of fasting, during which only the plainest foods can be eaten. Therefore, rich ingredients such as eggs, milk, sugar and flour are disposed of prior to the commencement of the fast. Pancakes were therefore the perfect way of using up these perishable foods.

The world's biggest pancake was cooked in Rochdale in 1994. It was 15 metres in diameter, weighed three tonnes and had an estimated two million calories!

Get flippin' your pancakes!