History of pancakes

Fast facts

Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, is the traditional feast day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Lent - the 40 days and 40 nights leading up to Easter - was traditionally a time of fasting and on Shrove Tuesday Christians went to confession and were "shriven" (absolved from their sins). It was the last opportunity to use eggs and fats before the Lenten fast and pancakes are the perfect way of using up these ingredients…and let’s face it, whether you are religious or not, it is a temptingly yummy way at that!

The pancake has a very long history and has featured in cookbooks as far back as 1439. The tradition of tossing or flipping them is almost as old.

Silly pancake facts

• In the US, Pancake Day is commonly known as Mardi Gras; which means ‘Fat Tuesday’ in French!
• For years people have been taking part in pancake races, in fact one crazy pancake fan ran a marathon while continually tossing a pancake for three hours, two minutes and 27 seconds – exhausting!
• The world record for pancake tossing is 416 times, in two minutes
• The first recorded pancake race was in Olney, Buckinghamshire in 1445!
• The world’s biggest pancake was cooked in Rochdale (Greater Manchester) in 1994, which was 15 metres in diameter, weighted three tonnes and an estimated two million calories – wonder if they managed to flip that by hand?!
• In 2005, celebrity chef Aldo Zilli, set the world record for the highest pancake toss at 329cm

Pancakes – how they vary across the globe

A thin, flat cake, made of batter and baked on a griddle or fried in a pan - the pancake has a very long history and has featured in cookbooks as far back as 1439.

Pancake fans stretch far and wide - There are a number of takes on the original pancake enjoyed across the globe:

• German and French pancakes are leavened by eggs and much beating, are baked very thin and served with sweet or savoury fillings
• Pancake Tuesday - is known as 'Fasnacht' in Germany (night of the fast)
• The French crêpe is thin and crispy - a crêpe suzette is folded or rolled and heated in a sauce of butter, sugar, citrus juice, and liqueur. The French are also partial to savoury pancakes!
• Old English batter was mixed with ale
• Russian blinis, usually prepared with buckwheat, are thin, crisp pancakes, commonly served with caviar and sour cream or folded over and filled with cream cheese or jam.
• Mexico has its tortilla, which is often served folded over a bean or meat filling and topped by tomato sauce.
• American pancakes are thicker. They are sometimes called battercakes, griddlecakes, or flapjacks and are usually leavened with baking powder or baking soda and served with syrup.