Imagine a race where the competitors are not only sprinting but also flipping a pancake mid-run: welcome to one of English most quirky tradition.

This unusual and funny English tradition consist in a race where contestants run around a course whilst holding a frying pan and flipping a pancake at the same time. Every year, in late February in England, this pancake race occurs before the 40 days of Lent.

How this tradition was born

It could seem foolish as a tradition, altough it has its roots in the past. Historicaly, eggs and milk that wouldn’t keep over Lent had to be used up, so pancakes became the traditional food of the day. According to folklore, back in 1445, a baker  heard the shriving bell while she was making pancakes and ran to church in her apron. Consequently, she had no choice but to run there, juggling the hot pan and flipping the pancake as she went. Hence, this playful spint is now recreated every Shrove Tuesday across England. Nowadays some races require participants to dress in women’s skirts and blouses, while others demand the runners don chefs’ toques. Some other instead allow only women to participate, while others allow both men and women.

Pancake day

Shrove Tuesday is considered “Pancake Day.” Before Lent could begin in earnest, all edible temptations needed to be removed. Therefore, this took place over a period of days known as ‘Shrovetide’. Thus, meat such as bacon would be eaten up on ‘Collop Monday’ (a collop is a thin slice of meat), whilist on Shrove Tuesday, eggs, butter, and stocks of fat would be used up.  Accordingly, this is a  custom which continued long after the Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century.

A traditional English pancake is very thin and above all, quite easy to do. Indeed, the ingredients are just four: eggs, milk , flouwer and salt. Golden syrup or lemon juice and caster sugar are the usual toppings for pancakes.

Taken from the web