But they're crepes...

Yesterday, Shrove Tuesday, was Pancake Day in the UK. They're not really pancakes (as Americans would know them). They're actually crèpes, but the English don't like to admit it. As a matter of fact, they get rather upset when one says 'Those ain't pancakes'. All day long they eat these crèpes, err, pancakes. It's a big thing here.

This pancake day custom goes back hundreds of years. 'Shriving' means being given penance - which everyone sought before Lent started. And, as it was the day before Lent, it was also the day they ate up any foods they weren't going to eat during Lent. Like meat and fat. Hence the French call it 'Fat Tuesday' or Mardi gras.

A few have observed that the rest of the world celebrates Mardi gras with carnival but we in the UK eat pancakes. They're an exciting lot, the English.

And now you know...