Fritter Tuesday

Today is widely known as Fat Tuesday, the day people around the world pig out before starting the fasts of Lent. One last chance to indulge in treats and consume the foods you're giving up. A few years ago I decided to celebrate the day by eating an entire Hershey's Chocolate Cream Pie, all by myself. After that craziness I was all too happy to give up sugar for six weeks.

Different cultures call it different things. In Britain it is known as Shrove Tuesday and "Pancake Day"; Ireland, Australia, and Canada have "Pancake Tuesday". The French call it "Boeuf Gras", or "Fatted Calf". A version of this celebration was introduced to Louisiana by the French and called "Mardi Gras", where alcohol seems to be the splurge of choice. In Italy it's "Carnevale", in Germany it's..."Karneval". Those Germans.... Sweden has "Fettisdagen", and enjoy a pastry called Semla. Iceland has "Sprengidagur" or "Bursting Day", where salt meat and peas are consumed. Lithuanians celebrate "Uzgavënës" with both pancakes (blynai) and doughnuts (spurgos). In Estonia it's "Vastlapäev", with hopes for the new year, sledding, and the enjoyment of split pea and ham soup. And last but not least, the Polish, with a large presence in the US, enjoy pacski (pronounced poonch-key) on Fat Tuesday. Think deep fat fried and sugared kolaches. A recipe for these delectable pastries can be found here.

But...pancakes? I know my boys love pancakes, so I will dutifully make them pancakes today. I get the doughnuts and pastries...but why on earth would someone splurge on pancakes?

With so much of the background of our traditions lost in modern times, I wanted to share a little history of the day for you.

Pancakes, which were often more like crepes, were made from pantry items such as butter, milk, and eggs that would go bad during the long arduous fasts of the Middle Ages. We have it so easy now in comparison. Medieval Catholics not only gave up meat for the duration of Lent, but also all meat and dairy products. Can you imagine spending the entire time from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday without any meat, gravy, butter, milk or eggs? I'm sure my Dad has a pretty good idea what it's like. Eggs are the ferry that get me through meatless Lenten meals, not being a huge fan of fish.

After writing up this post I came across this gem.

Inspired by the pastries of other countries I've been reading about, I've decided to implement our own new traditional treat. While growing up one of my favorite were fritters, known to the general public as "sugared fry bread". I could barely contain my excitement while Grandma or Mom, stationed over the frying pan at the stove, would drop balls of bread dough into sizzling hot oil. Once browned on both sides, they would be removed to a towel to rest, and then dropped into a bowl of sugar and rolled. I can't count the number of times I scalded my tongue in my impatience to enjoy these treats. I pronounce today "Fritter Day"!

Back to history, traditionally the day before Ash Wednesday was Shrove Tuesday. Shrove was derived from the word shrive, which came from old Latin and Germanic words that meant to impose penance on, and to write down or scribe. While we don't have the means to get to confession today, we'll be encouraging examinations of conscience in preparation for the start of Lent tomorrow.