The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
February 14, 2010
Vol. 13 no. 07
Holy pancakes! There seems to be a great deal of spirituality around pancakes at this juncture of the year. We are not just going to talk about them, but eat some too. This is not precisely Pancake Day, but it’s close and with pancakes that is all that counts and tastes. Shrove Tuesday is a peculiarly Anglican, English-speaking celebration the day before Lent. Mardi Gras is the name for the day in more southern climes. They dance, we eat pancakes. It figures.
Shrove Tuesday acquires its title from the past tense of the old English verb, “to shrive,” or to obtain absolution for one’s sins by way of confession and doing penance. Come to think of it, that sounds Lenten and pancakes with fruit and syrup are not particularly Lenten fare.
Not everyone eats pancakes on this day, however, but they are still delicious. The Swedes prefer a semla or fastlagsbulle, a sweet pastry made sweeter with almond paste and whipped cream. Originally, it was made only for this specific day, but over time a new regimen was established in which one ate one every Tuesday during Lent. Every Thursday, lunch in the school cafeteria in Tampere, Finland, is “pancakes and pea soup.” Nothing holy about that.
The one that really caught my attention is the Scottish tradition of a “festy cock” made of a ball of finely ground meal, wetted and patted, rolled into a pancake shape, then roasted in the hot ashes from a mill kiln. Sounds good and Scottish.
What’s so holy about pancakes? It’s not in the mix; it’s in the mix of those who are eating them. Don’t eat a holy pancake alone!
Preached by Robert Kitchen
Knox-Metropolitan United Church
Regina, Saskatchewan