Enjoyed pancake Tuesday? - Nice and "sweet" tradition

Hi everybody,

...and sorry - I have been trying to write this post for three whole days, but I have had not time at all, not until this exact moment.

And I wanted so badly to write this post because I wanted to tell you about PANCAKE TUESDAY  (also know as Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Pancake Day....) which is celebrated every year on the day before Ash Wednesday (This year, it was celebrated this week).

If you are an expat originally from a non-English speaking country (like myself), probably you hadn't heard about Pancake Tuesday before.... I remember our first year as expats in Ireland - I was so surprised when I heard that everybody eats pancakes on the day before Ash Wednesday - what a funny way of celebrating the beginning of Lent!

So I asked my old friend Google for an explanation about this and, of course, he gave it to me. And it wasn't that difficult to guess: Ash Wednesday is the entrance door to Lent, which is a time for sacrifice of different types for religious people - most typical is observing a fasting period that lasts from Ash Wednesday to Easter week. This fasting period was much more severe in the Middle Age than nowadays, and it was back then when this tradition started: the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday families would prepare a big meal using the best of the products kept at home that would not be consumed during the following forty days (flour, eggs, fat, milk, sugar...).

Not everybody observes this fasting period anymore during Lent, but almost everybody celebrates Pancake Tuesday, specially families with kids. We do celebrate it - the kids love it! They help prepare the pancakes and make sure everythings ready for dinner (at least oce a year they care!).

Well, my dear fellow non-English speaking expats in Dublin, I hope my explanations were clarifying to you. I also hope that you'll celebrate Pancake Tuesday like Dubliners do from now on.

Ah! I found this article in The Huffington Post that I'd like to share with you: The pancake stacking world record has been beaten in Australia on Pancake Tuesday, 2012! Some people do take this tradition very seriously :-)

By the way, and coming back to our lovely host city, Dublin, I've asked friend Dubliners about the best place to eat pancakes and most of them agree in one place: Lemon on 66, SouthWilliam Street, Dublin 2 (there is another Lemon on Dawson Street, beside Hodges Figgis). Haven't tried it yet, but we will cause it seems that everybody has the same opinion!

This photo of Lemon Crepe and Coffe Co. is courtesy of TripAdvisor

I borrowed the picture from TripAdvisor...just wanted you to see the outside of the place (this is the one on South William St).

If you've ever tried pancakes at Lemon, please let us know!