Shrove Tuesday, also known as "pancake day," might not be familiar, but its other name, Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), likely is! How are these celebrations from the same religious tradition, and how are pancakes and shiny beads/partying related?
The purpose of Shrove Tuesday and Mardi Gras is to prepare for Lent, a period of giving up specific pleasures. (Lent is the forty days before Easter that remind observants of the forty days Jesus spent fasting in the desert.) Traditionally, Lent involves abstaining from a whole range of foods such as meat, eggs, fish, fats and milk. "Shrove" means confession or penance, and the day was set aside to prepare spiritually to cast off sin and forms of indulgence. In the days and sometimes weeks leading up to Lent (not just Shrove Tuesday!), it became customary to have feasts and festivals to use up all of the foods that wouldn't be eaten over the 40-day Lenten season. Partying, parades, and rich foods were to balance out the future more somber period of sacrifice and deprivation.
Different forms of this celebration, including Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras and Carnavale developed around the world! One efficient way to use up foodstuffs was to make pancakes or fritters, since the recipe calls for eggs and butter. This is why many local churches around campus offer pancake suppers on Shrove Tuesday. During Mardi Gras, a rich ring-shaped cake with dried fruit, cheese, and purple and green icing and or sprinkles, is sometimes prepared instead of pancakes.
Shrove Tuesday is celebrated in many Christian denominations. Like other holy days that surround Easter, its date varies each year according to lunar cycles.
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