We’ve had such a lot of wet and miserable weather recently, not surprising really for the back end of winter. Because we no longer have snow here in the southwest of England, we don’t even have the chance of snow – I know it’s inconvenient to many people, but there is something exciting about seeing the world covered in white. That’s probably the child in me that thinks that. We’re in February now, apparently it’s considered the last month of winter and it’s also Black History Month in the USA and in Canada (October for us in the UK) I didn’t realise, or I forgot that February 1st is Imbolc – the Celtic fire festival, and February 2nd is Candlemas. I do remember that February 14th is St Valentine’s Day!
I guess February doesn’t particularly strike a chord because none of the close family have birthdays or anniversaries, ours seem to be mostly clustered around October, November, December – with a single August celebration to enjoy in the summer. My parents were married in February, but that was a very long time ago, and if they were still alive now, both would be centenarians. I have a couple of cousins with February birthdays – and I usually message our good wishes to them.
One thing we will be celebrating in February this year, is Shrove Tuesday, aka Pancake Day! This year it will be on 17th February. Because it is a Christian ‘festival’ and part of the lead up to Easter, the date changes each year, Pancake Day falls between February 3rd and March 9th, so it’s early this year. At home we traditionally had lemon juice and sugar sprinkled on our pancakes, hot from the pan, and I still prefer that, however, now in our house maple syrup tends to be the favourite – and with bacon too! Another tradition in some parts of the country is the pancake race, where people run a distance, armed with a frying pan and pancake which they must flip as they run.
Here is something I wrote on pancake racing, at about the same time last year:
WINNING THE TOSS
Pancake is February 11th this year and in Olney in Buckinghamshire, and in Liberal, in Kansas,, they are getting ready for their annual race. The Shrove Tuesday trans-Atlantic pancake race has been run since 1950 between the British and American women and America is slightly in the lead.
Last year’s winner was a 16-year-old schoolgirl. This year a cheque worth £10 (about £238 today) in the form of a pancake will be the special prize for the winner and after the race it will be cashed at a local bank.
The right pan makes a lot of difference when you are making pancakes , as every good cook will tell you, so hare is a selection from the kitchen shop Divertimenti, 63 Marylebone Lane, London, W.1. (unfortunately the picture is not attached) All three pans have one important point in common – they have a big flat base and fairly straight sides. This is important both for the shape of the pancake and the the eventual, tricky moment of flipping it over.
Pancake pans should be kept solely for pancakes and should never be washed. To clean them you should wipe them thoroughly with a piece of kitchen or greaseproof paper.
Our Common Market neighbours in France consider themselves the world’s experts on the pancake which they call a crêpe. So it was from a book of French cookery that I chose the following recipe. One important point: try and rest the pancake batter for at least an hour before cooking.
For this recipe (sufficient for 12 pancakes) you will need:
4 oz sifted flour (plain)
½ tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 oz melted butter
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 egg yolks
1 oz butter
sugar and lemon juice
Sift the flour, sugar and salt together.
Mix with the melted butter.
Add the milk slowly, then one egg beaten slightly, and the two yolks.
Beat with a wooden spoon until bubbles appear on the top.
Brown one teaspoon of butter or margarine in a frying pan.
Tilt the pan so that the fat covers the whole pan.
Pour in two tablespoonfuls of the mixture and brown each side in turn.
Serve hot, sprinkled with sugar and lemon juice.
Lois Elsden 