Shrove Tuesday; engraving by the Dutch engraver H.Cock 1567
In other cases of discussing religious fasts (Islam, Judaism) I posted more about the fast itself because this is, after all, a feature about breakfast and fast breaking traditions. In the case of the Christian Lenten Fast, the big meal doesn’t so much break the fast as much as it precedes the fast.
The day before Ash Wednesday is called Shrove Tuesday in most of the English-speaking world. Ash Wednesday is the first day of the Christian season of Lent. If you want to know more about Lent and more details about the Lenten fasting traditions look up Lent on Wikipedia.
The word shrove is the past tense of the English verb to shrive, which means to obtain absolution for one’s sins by way of Confession and doing penance. Thus Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the shriving that English Christians were expected to do prior to receiving absolution immediately before Lent begins. Shrove Tuesday is the last day of “shrovetide”, a season that developed after the Protestant Reformation, somewhat analogous to the Carnival tradition that continued separately in Catholic countries of Latin Europe. The term “Shrove Tuesday” is no longer widely known in the United States outside of people who observe liturgical traditions such as those of the Lutheran, Episcopal, and Roman Catholic Churches. Because of the increase in many immigrant populations and traditions since the 19th century, and the rise of highly publicized festivals, Mardi Gras has become more familiar as the designation for that day.
In England and many other countries, the festival was widely associated with the eating of rich foods made with eggs, sugar and butter, such as pancakes. It was often known simply as Pancake Day. Pancakes and doughnuts became associated with the day preceding Lent because they were a way to use up rich foodstuffs such as eggs, milk, and sugar, before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent. The liturgical fasting emphasized eating plainer food and refraining from food that would give pleasure: In many cultures, this means no meat, dairy, or eggs.Among Anglicans, Lutherans and some other Protestant denominations, and among cultures in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, this day is known as Pancake Tuesday.
Today the Lenten fast is more of a semi-fast consists of only one meal of normal size and two smaller meals not much more than a snack. It is not nearly as severe as the Yom Kippur Fast or the Ramadan fast, nor as severe as the Christian fast was in the past. Fasting is expected, or required, only on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, and Good Friday, the last Friday of Lent. All Fridays and Ash Wednesday, are days of abstinence from meat products (seafood is OK). But the tradition of Shrove Tuesday, Carnival, and Mardi Gras, began in a time when fasting was more severe.
In countries of the Carnival tradition, the day before Ash Wednesday is known either as Fat Tuesday or the “Tuesday of Carnival. This is in reference to eating special foods before the fasting season of Lent.
For German American populations, such as Pennsylvania Dutch Country, it is known as Fastnacht Day. The Fastnacht is made from fried potato dough and served with dark corn syrup. In John Updike’s novel Rabbit, Run, the main character remembers a Fosnacht Day tradition where the last person to rise would be teased by the other family members and called a “Fosnacht.”
So, next Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day, Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras have some pancakes or a doughnut. Then on Easter, in about six and a half weeks, have a BIG Sunday breakfast!
