Valentines Day, Shrove Tuesday, and Pancakes

Both Shrove Tuesday (aka Pancake Day) and Valentines Day are coming, and it wouldn't do to leave you seasonally unprepared!

What is Shrove Tuesday?

Pancakes are traditionally served on Shrove Tuesday, which is always 47 days before Easter Sunday, and is the final day before the commencement of Lent.

As Lent is, for Christians, a time of abstinence of some kind - of giving things up - pancakes are the perfect food for the day before, using as they do eggs, fat and flour - foods that were seen as luxurious and that were forbidden for strict Lent observers.

Not so many people observe Lent these days, although it can be such a useful practice - regardless of our religious or spiritual identity - for appreciating more keenly the luxuries of every day life which we may take for granted.

A period of renunciation can help us discover, perhaps, how attached we can get to, and even how reliant we can be upon, certain things and certain behaviours.

But before that period of renunciation kicks in ... here are some pancake recipes for you including a sweet idea that would work just as well on Valentine's Day.

First and foremost, it would be remiss not to start with the basic recipe:

Classic English Pancakes

In terms of how to serve these, cinnamon sugar mix is my hands-down favourite, bringing back memories of my South African grannie, who I seem to remember used to invite her whole tribe (13 of us!) round and then spend the entire evening in the kitchen churning out “pannekoek” to pass through the hatch into the front room.

The really British tradition is to serve them with caster sugar and lemon juice.

And you might want to consider trying them with either lightly sauteed apple slices, mashed bananas (sea freighted and fair trade, naturally!), warm, spiced rhubarb compote or, in honour of Valentines Day, our "Love Struck" Pear Ice-cream.

Of course, pancakes aren't just for dessert.

They make a great substitute for canneloni tubes or you can use them as wraps.

Here are links to our two favourite savoury pancake recipes:

Winter Vegetable Savoury Pancakes

Pancakes with Blue Cheese Sauce

Do share what you plan to have, and let us know whether / how you’ll be observing Lent.

And of course, if you're blissfully in love with someone then don't forget to that gifts and especially cards can be homemade, perhaps from recycled objects, and that if you plan to buy something, don't forget there are a lot of ethically sourced options such as these from the Ooffoo Marketplace.