just for fun.: shrove tuesday. pancake day.

so, today was Shrove Tuesday, the british version of Mardi Gras, the day before Lent. Here, Shrove tuesday is often called Pancake Day after the fried batter recipe traditionally eaten on this day. and pancakes here are not the thick fat kind you get in the states at iHop. they're what we americans call crepes.

Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the ritual of shriving that Christians used to undergo in the past. In shriving, a person confesses their sins and receives absolution for them. (says BBC - Religion)

so...why pancakes?!

apparently during lent, a lot of christians don't eat fats, eggs and milky foods. So, how better do you indulge before Lent than eating PANCAKES, which is made entirely of fats, eggs and milk (and flour)!

though I am not religious at all, I decided to celebrate pancake day as a way of acclimatizing* to british culture, but more importantly, as an excuse to eat crepes!

celebrating pancake day entails eating pancakes, obviously. but another big part of the tradition is pancake racing! pancake racing is a short relay race, where people run while holding a frying pan and flipping pancakes! and there are several of these happening all over the city during the course of the day.

Origin of Pancake races (taken from BBC - Religion)

Pancake races are thought to have begun in 1445. a woman had lost track of the time on Shrove Tuesday, and was busy cooking pancakes in her kitchen. suddenly she heard the church bell ringing to call the faithful to church for confession. the women raced out of her house and ran all the way to church; still holding her frying pan and wearing her apron.

I chose to go to one of the more well-known ones in Spitalfields, off Brick lane. this race happened in front of the Old Truman Brewery, a brewery-turned art gallery that hosts exhibits of emerging artists. despite the rain there were lots of spectators. And many of the teams showed up in fun costumes. so...here's PANCAKE RACING!

sponsoring creperie.

emt team. they, along with many other groups, took this opportunity to fundraise and collected donations from the crowd for their organizations.

the day's master of ceremonies.

and off they go. the emt group and the fireheads. the man in the pink onesie is a GIMP, he tried to bother the racers by stopping them and putting sugar on their frying pans. but to me, he's just a man in PINK ONESIES!