Shrove Tuesday

[Gwenda Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Gwenda]

As today is Shrove Tuesday (or International Pancake Day according to the Internet), I wondered whether Finnish/Swedish folk celebrate in the same way as Britain, i.e. by enjoying a yummy meal of pancakes. A few hardy souls even take part in pancake races, i.e. "tossing" their pancake in the air as they run. It is raining a bit too heavily here for many pancake races to take place, but my mouth is watering at the thought of those pancakes at tonight`s evening meal. Lashings of maple syrup and cream go on mine but my husband prefers the more traditional lemon and sugar. The diet will just have to wait until tomorrow! Does Finland celebrate any other "food days" when a certain type of food is eaten on a particular day?

Happy Pancake Day everyone.

[sanell Registered Find all posts View Profile Close sanell]

Shrove tuesday Fettisdagen

Hi Gwenda

Today is fettisdagen in Sweden which seems to be something like your shrove tuesday. I think it is the last day before the time of fast. In sweden we eat (semlor) a wheat-bun with almond paste and lots of cream. We cut he top of the bun, fill it with almond paste and lots of cream on top of that. Then we put the top back again and eat it. It is delicius, though not very healthy, but who cares, I am in the late forties and I´m married........
Someone said; The eating will kill me slowly,,,,,, but i´m not in a hurry..........

Peter

[Gwenda Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Gwenda]

Shrove Tuesday/Fettisdagen

Hi Peter

Sounds even better than pancakes. Enjoy!
You are right about Shrove Tuesday (and I assume Fettisdagen) being the start of the Lent fast. I wasn`t sure myself, so cheated and looked it up on the internet.

Happy Fettisdagen

[June Pelo Senior Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close June Pelo]

Shrove Tuesday

It's the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, known as 'descent Tuesday' because it marks the 'descent' into the fasting period of Lent. The custom of sleding on Shrove Tuesday originally marked a change in women's work - they stopped spinning, and began weaving, which demanded more light - and its intention was to ensure the growth of linen the following summer. Shrove Tuesday is still celebrated by sledging in Finnish cities on slopes prepared for the purpose by students. The day is also marked by the consumption of sweet buns filled with marzipan or jam and cream, often eaten from bowls filled with hot milk.

Ilmar Talve wrote that pea and bean soup, blood sausage and lard pancakes were eaten at Shrovetide, the day before Ash Wednesday which was celebrated as 'fat' or 'meat' Tuesday, a day for eating a lot of fatty food. Shrove buns were eaten by the gentry from the late 18th century on (with hot milk), but the town bakeries did not begin to sell them until around the mid-19th century.

June

[Gwenda Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Gwenda]

for June

Thanks for your reply June. I am not sure about the pea and bean soup and the blood sausage. The sweet buns, with marzipan or jam and cream sound much more to my liking. Just a bit more to add to my original message which I remembered afterwards. Up until last year in Norwich, near to where I live, there were two small restaurants, side by side. One was called Pizza One and the other Pancakes Too. I thought they were quite catchy names. The pancakes at "Pancakes Too" were wonderful all year round and not just on Shrove Tuesday.

[kpaavola Registered Find all posts View Profile Close kpaavola]

Fat Tuesday

See, you learn something new everyday! Now I know where that originated from.

[Sören Ahinko Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Sören Ahinko]

Semlor

If you are interesting in semlor you can loke at this page.
http://www.algonet.se/~sv/semlaguiden.htm

It´s in swedish almost everything. But you can look at the pictures, and you can really se how good this thing semla is.

nami nami

[Hasse Admin Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Hasse]

Semlor or fettisdagsbullar

One small warning...

In Finland we have "fettisdagsbullar" this Tuesday, but the Swedes insist to call it "semlor". If you order a "semla" in Finland and expect to get a creamy, high calory bun you are in for a small surprise...


Fettisdagsbulle:

Semlor:

[sune Registered Find all posts View Profile Close sune]

Pea soup is a tradition on Fastlagstisdag in Finland.

And then the children and many adults too take their sledges to a steep hill and run down it several times. It's great fun.

This is an old rural custom. It was believed that the harvest will be the better the longer runs you get.

Sune

[granskare Registered Find all posts View Profile Close granskare]

Seems to me there was a town in Kansas and one in England which held pancake flipping races or some such.
It's been a while since I'd heard of it and this reminded me.

Chuck.....who wants some pancakes now

[sanell Registered Find all posts View Profile Close sanell]

Hasse Nygård

Fettisdagsbulle Semlor

I know exactly what you are talking about, I did that mistake last year and I can tell you, everybody in that small café had a good laugh.


Peter

[Gwenda Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Gwenda]

What a Failure

Well, things did not exactly go as planned with our pancakes last night. After 26 years of doing them perfectly, last night`s failed. First one stuck to the pan, second was too sloppy to toss and splashed all over the stove, but I managed to salvage two and a half others which were reasonably edible!! Will just have to have a "Non Pancake Day" and try again.

[Dorothy Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Dorothy]

We have Swedish "Plattar" at our house. Not sure of the spelling but my grandchildren loved the "rolled up pancakes" with fruit or cinnamon and sugar sprinked on them.

My mother always served them with "Rodgers Golden Syrup" .
Dorothy

[sanell Registered Find all posts View Profile Close sanell]

Dorothy

"Plättar" is delicious. They should be eaten warm directly from the pan. Some strawberry jam and cream. Roll them up and enjoy your meal.


Peter

[Gita Wiklund Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Gita Wiklund]

Plättar and pannkakor

Hi!

In sweden we call the small kind of pancakes (that look like blinis)plättar, and the bigger ones are called pannkakor.
Thursdays all year around is peasoup and pancake day in Sweden. Many restaurants serve it on thursday, and also schools often serve that on thursdays. First you eat the soup then the pancakes.

We usually don´t serve plättar & pannkakor with syrup, but with sugar and jam.

Do you ever mix other stuff in the pancake mix? I once tried to mash a banana in. It was good! We don´t use baking powder in making our pancakes.

Semlor used to be available in the stors on Fettisdagen but now as soon as the x-mas holiday is over they pop up. Many still think it´s wrong to eat them before Fettisdagen, so that is the day most of them are sold. I must admit I can´t wait that long myself...

Gita