Well, I didn't know that until yesterday, when George Pickles, Ripon's former Hornblower, told me about it in an email.
Here is what he wrote, and I am adding a photo he sent with the email:
"So here in Ripon, tomorrow is Pancake day. I don't think this is an event celebrated in Germany?
I have attached a picture of a typical Shrove Tuesday Pancake race,
setting off in relays from the front of the Cathedral, running up the
length of Kirkgate. Each race would be arranged according to ages, or
the representatives of various City groups. All very good fun.
I would usually be involved with the Dean helping to set off the
individual races. The Dean and I would then have a two man race at the
end, to much cheering and laughing. The Hornblowing is not involved
these days as the role is shared by a team."
George is right in thinking that this is not celebrated in Germany, at least not to my knowledge. But many places here have their own traditions for Shrove Tuesday. I will simply go to the office, as I usually do on Tuesdays, and work on whatever our customer sees fit to set before me.
If you wish to know more about Shrove Tuesday, the meaning of the word and some of the traditions around the world, click here for the wikipedia article.
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Spring has really showed its face last weekend, and yesterday! It was so mild I did not need gloves or a scarf for the first time in months. Already the weekend before last, it felt very much like spring. O.K. and I were on a walk between his and the next village, and he took these pictures for me of hazel trees along the path:
Don't they look beautiful against the blue sky? You should have heard the bees humming - a sound that was completely absent for months, too.
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Spring has really showed its face last weekend, and yesterday! It was so mild I did not need gloves or a scarf for the first time in months. Already the weekend before last, it felt very much like spring. O.K. and I were on a walk between his and the next village, and he took these pictures for me of hazel trees along the path:
Don't they look beautiful against the blue sky? You should have heard the bees humming - a sound that was completely absent for months, too.
Do you eat a special doughnut, Fasnacht, before lent? (My son in law has been making them.) I think it is the same idea, to eat something that uses up all the fat before Lent. So nice that George Pickles sent you this information and photo...Our weather is crazy. One day last week was 75degrees F. (23.8C) and I sat out on the deck, reading. Next day, snow all over. But spring is coming.
ReplyDeleteFasnacht (or Fastnacht, depending on where you are) is actually another name for carnival. The doughnuts you mean are called Fasntachts-Küchle ("little cakes"). We do have them here, as well as Berliner, which are now eaten all year round but are actually a traditional Fasnachts-treat, too.
DeleteIt was wonderful and mild here on Monday, and then on Tuesday felt very much like winter again, with cold wind and rain.
I've heard the day mentioned as International Pancake Day on the radio this year, but traditionally it is "Fastlagstisdag" = Shrove Tuesday here too; and rather than pancakes we eat a special "fastlagsbulle" or "semla", which is a wheat bun filled with almond paste and whipped cream.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds nice - almond paste and whipped cream! Yumm!
DeleteThank you for the card, Monica, that was a lovely surprise waiting for me in my mailbox when I came home today :-)
How wonderful to hear the bees! I haven't really heard them yet, although I've seen catkins. I managed to miss pancakes today because I was having a semi-fasting day, which I do a couple of times a week. But I did have a pancake on Monday ! :) I have never seen the hornblower of Ripon although the one occasion when I visited that charming town I saw a statue. Lewis carroll's dad was the archdeacon of Ripon in the 1850s and 60s and so the family used to go and stay there sometimes.
ReplyDeleteYes, the sound of bees after months of not hearing them made me instantly feel spring- or even summer-like!
DeleteI knew of Lewis Carroll's connection with Ripon. When I was there last summer (or was it in 2015?), I took a photo of one of the places where he used to live, and posted it here on my blog specifically for you :-)
I know that they eat pancakes in England with lemon and sugar!
ReplyDeleteLove your blue sky with the trees!
Actually, I prefer savoury pancakes to sweet ones. My Mum makes them very well, and O.K. knows how to flip a great pancake, too! We spice them with herbs, salt and pepper, and then fill them with grilled vegetables or a creamy mushroom ragout.
DeleteI fully intended to make pancakes yesterday but I got too involved with something else in the late afternoon and ran out of enthusiasm when it came to my late evening meal. Perhaps today! When I was a child pancakes were always something to be looked forward to because we had lemon and sugar or syrup on them and, in the early days, that was a treat because of rationing. I still like to have syrup on them with some whipped cream too (or perhaps the crunchy sugar with lemon juice - or perhaps a few of each!).
ReplyDeleteLike I said in my reply to Kay's comment above yours, I prefer savoury pancakes. But it could also simply be because we didn't eat sweet pancakes at home often, and so in my mind, they are associated with herbs and spices, vegetables and/or slices of ham rolled up in them.
DeleteOh no, I missed it yesterday - was busy planning and cooking a middle-Eastern dinner for my granddaughter's visit. She, like me, is now vegetarian so I did felafel, mjeddrah (lentils & rice), green beans with pine nuts, two types of roasted winter squash. . . . . . and although European, tossed in another bowl of that fabulous ratatouille, just because I love it!!!
ReplyDeletePerhaps this evening I'll rustle up the pancakes for Bob and me - but then I always eat too many. I too remember them from my English childhood and mum always served them with lemon juice and sugar - which is how I make them. Of course here in the US pancakes are those horrid thick rubbery things for breakfast - not the crêpe-like ones we make.
Thanks for the news. Glad you are enjoying blue skies too.
Mary -
Your dinner with your granddaughter sounds delicious! I really like falafel, and I think the ratatouille fits in very well with the rest of the meal.
DeletePncakes with lemon juice and sugar is something I have never tried, but from your and other comments on here I assume it is the traditional English way to eat them.
I love fluffy pancakes with butter and good maple syrup. Yum. Now I'm hungry!!! :)
ReplyDeleteCan you believe I have never tasted maple syrup? It is just not such a common item on tables here in Germany.
DeleteWhat?!?!? Meike, something must be done to rectify this situation. Want me to bubble wrap a bottle or two and ship them to Germany? :)
DeleteJennifer, you're a star for suggesting that!
DeleteI wonder if this is where pancake fundraiser breakfasts, that used to be so popular, came from?
ReplyDeleteHello Sandra, am I right in thinking this is your first comment on my blog? Anyway - welcome!
DeleteI don't know about pancake fundraiser breakfasts, but it could be connected, couldn't it.
I was talking with a Dutch dad at school who was asking me about Pancake Day, and why we do it. I think the idea was that you used up all the nice stuff in the cupboard before the fasting for lent began. But pancake races, I haven't seen one of those for years. It's nice to know some places are still holding them. We celebrated with fluffy American style ones for breakfast with yogurt and fruit, and thin English style pancakes for dessert that night, sprinkled with sugar and lemon juice and rolled up, the traditional way to eat them. But frankly none of us need an excuse to eat pancakes in this house!
ReplyDeleteI know you like pancakes, Gillian, they do feature every now and then on your blog, and always look mouthwateringly yummy!
DeleteYes, the use-it-all-up idea is also mentioned in the wikipedia article I have linked to. It does make sense.