This Is Why People Eat Pancakes on Fat Tuesday (2024)

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This Is Why People Eat Pancakes on Fat Tuesday? ›

Why do we eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday? It was the last chance for a spot of indulgence before 40 days of fasting, and also an opportunity to use up food that couldn't be eaten during Lent. This included eggs, fat and milk, which were made into pancakes and eaten on that day.

Pancakes are associated with Shrove Tuesday, the day preceding Lent, because they are a way to use up rich foods such as eggs, milk, and sugar, before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent.

Shrove Tuesday marks the last day before Lent - a period of 40 days whereby Christians traditionally fast or give up certain foods. The 40 days represent the time that Jesus spent fasting in the desert where he resisted the temptation of Satan.

Fat Tuesday's Catholic Roots Around the World

Fat Tuesday is also called Shrove Tuesday. According to the Diocese of Little Rock, Shrove Tuesday comes from the term “to shrive,” meaning “to confess,” or to hear confessions–a way to prepare our hearts for the beginning of Lent dating back to the Middle Ages.

Pancake Day is an informal name for Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday in some Christian traditions. It's called Pancake Day due to the tradition of eating pancakes on that day. Some people call it Pancake Tuesday, but this is less common.

As Mandelkow explains, some use the day as a chance to “clear their homes of any delicious and perishable foods” so as not to waste any while they abstain from meat, dairy, and sugar. Fr. Schlag also points to fatty foods like eggs, milk, butter, and cheese.

What are some foods traditionally eaten on Fat Tuesday? Depending on your tradition, religion, or culture, people enjoy a variety of foods on Fat Tuesday, including pancakes, king cake, jambalaya, or a crawfish boil. Individuals consume foods high in fat and sugar to prepare for Lenten fasting.

Legend says that it all started when a woman heard the shriving bell calling people to church on Shrove Tuesday while she was making pancakes – and she ran to the church still in her apron with her frying pan! We don't know whether this story is true, but we think that the first races happened in about 1445.

Not only is it a day to enjoy pancakes and other treats before 'giving up' such indulgences for the 40 days of Lent, but it is also a day to consider wrongs you need to repent and to ask for spiritual guidance. Shrove comes from the word 'shrive' meaning 'absolve', and many Christians attend confession on this day.

What you may not know is that, before it was associated with the Church and became known as Shrove Tuesday, it is believed that Pancake Day had its roots in a Slavic pagan holiday. Hot, round pancakes were symbolic of the sun, and thus eating pancakes was a means of harnessing its power and warmth.

Is Shrove Tuesday when Jesus died? ›

SHROVE TUESDAY (aka Pancake Day)

Lent is the Christian season of preparation before Easter, the date of Jesus' death.

Pancake Tuesday became a great day for using up the rich food that would not be consumed during Lent, such as eggs, milk and butter. In the olden days fasting and abstaining were taken very seriously during lent. Meat was banned, and most Irish families only ate one small meal per day.

Mardi Gras, festive day celebrated in France on Shrove Tuesday (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday), which marks the close of the pre-Lenten season. The French name Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday, from the custom of using all the fats in the home before Lent in preparation for fasting and abstinence.

Gregory prohibited Christians from eating all forms of meat and animal products, including dairy, during the 40 days of Lent. Christians abided by the rule and made pancakes on Shrove Tuesday in order to use up their supply of butter, milk, and eggs before Ash Wednesday.

Pancake Day

Augustine of Canterbury, a founder of the Christian church in southern England, to enforce those same fasting rules in England. So Christians made pancakes to use up their supply of eggs, milk and butter in preparation for Lent. Shrove Tuesday is also known as Pancake Day.

Long ago, after people went to church to confess their sins on Shrove Tuesday, they often returned home to have a feast. One of the dishes that was often made was pancakes. And that tradition has continued to this day. Some people make rolled-up paper-thin pancakes called crèpes with yummy fillings.

The National Pancake Day is celebrated throughout the United States each year on September 26.