Since childhood, I've enjoyed the yearly event that is the harbinger of Lent, which of course, leads to Easter: Pancake Tuesday. For a long time, I had no idea that those two names signaled the same day. Not everyone has heard of Pancake Tuesday, but most people have heard of Mardi Gras. Probably because the traditional way of celebrating Mardi Gras is way cooler than simply eating pancakes for dinner. (Even when we splurged and got real maple syrup...)
Notably, the pancake tradition originated in Britain; not typically known for exuberant celebrations.
As English-y post-colonials now living in Quebec, we're treating ourselves tonight to a combo cultural experience that blends the stodge of our ancestors with the sybaritic traditions of our neighbours' ancestors: we're having crêpes. Asparagus, with ham and cheese and creamy sauce.
But wait! (you say) Today isn't Fat Tuesday! You are right. It's not until next week. I wasn't trying to get a headstart on Lent. I discovered our Mardi Gras mix-up while researching for this very blog post!
When I told him of our mis-planning, McPie said: "Never trust my Mother. She said 'Second Tuesday in February.'"
To which I replied: "It’s the day before Ash Wednesday, which is forty days before Easter. Any good Catholic could tell you THAT! I followed your pronouncement of Pancake Tuesday like a sheep. A good Catholic sheep." I always let him do the math.
However, we won't apologize for screwing up the date. Turns out that figuring it out is a bit complicated for everyone. And we're still having crêpes for supper.
I'm going to suggest that for next week, for the REAL Pancake Tuesday when we'll be eating with the kids we steal another tradition. Unsurprisingly, Newfoundlanders have made the stodgy Brit custom a little more fun:
In the Canadian province of Newfoundland, household objects are baked into the pancakes and served to family members. Rings, thimbles, thread, coins, and other objects all have meanings associated with them. The lucky one to find coins in their pancake will be rich, the finder of the ring will be the first married, and the finder of the thimble will be a seamstress or tailor. Children have great fun with the tradition, and often eat more than their fill of pancakes in search of a desired object. (Also from Wikipedia)
Not exactly Carnival, but it's better than JUST maple syrup.
2 comments:
do you own a thimble?
how were the crepes? maybe we should have crepes next week...sans jambon of course.
No! Maybe we could use a stitch marker instead? Wait, I don't have any of those either... (I use random circular household objects...)
The crepes were delish. Ken is a genius. (I've never made crepes before.) We used prosciutto and provolone, and made a white wine cream sauce. Assembled them all in a casserole dish and baked them in the oven. Yum!
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