Pancakes, anyone?

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Tomorrow (March 5th) is Shrove Tuesday which is more commonly known as Pancake Day in England. English pancakes are a little different from American pancakes since they are usually thinner and, traditionally, eaten only with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of sugar. The ingredients are similar (flour, eggs and milk) but the batter should be a little runnier and no baking powder (raising agent) or sugar is used - just a pinch of salt. You will need a hot frying pan, lightly greased and the pancake batter should be allowed to rest for 30 minutes before cooking and about the consistency of single cream. You pour a little of the batter into the centre of the pan and quickly swirl it round until it covers the whole of the base. Once the underneath is nicely browned, the pancake should no longer stick to the pan and should be turned over to cook the other side. The proper (and traditional) way of doing this is, with a dexterous flip of the pan, to toss the pancake in the air so that it performs a somersault and comes down flat into the pan again uncooked side down. Tossing a pancake is quite an art, as you may imagine, and many people (myself included) take the coward's way out and use a spatula! Also, the first couple of pancakes tend to stick to the pan (depending on how well your pan was seasoned) and often need the help of a spatula to free them. The expertise of tossing pancakes has been turned into a spectator sport in some villages and competitors line up at the start, each dressed appropriately in frock and apron (men are usually allowed, as well, as long as they are suitably attired) and each with a frying pan complete with pancake. The object is to complete the course at a run whilst tossing the pancake as many times as possible without dropping it - automatically a fail, if you do, of course! Of course, besides the traditional lemon and sugar, you can eat your pancakes with almost any topping (or filling) you desire. I always preferred cheese pancakes (with grated cheese included in the batter) and I have often used pancakes rolled, like a large cannelloni, with a variety of savoury fillings, covered with a cheese or tomato sauce and baked in the oven. In fact, when I have posted this, I am off to make a leek and bacon filling and a cheese sauce to cover them, so if I don't come back to comment on your responses immediately, you'll know why! If you don't see me after a couple of days, maybe you should send out search parties - I may be somewhere under a mountain of pancakes having failed to toss them correctly! Here is a page which tells you all you need to know about pancake day (and why it happens on Shrove Tuesday). Note that the runners in the picture of the Pancake Race do NOT appear to be tossing pancakes as they should be! In fact, it's doubtful whether any pancakes at all were involved!