Pancake Day
Dziś jest 17 lutego Shrove Tuesday (ostatki czyli wtorek przed Środą Popielcową). Dzień ten w Polsce nazywany jest np.: podkoziołek bądź śledzik. W Wielkiej Brytanii również jest obchodzony, ale pod nazwą Pancake Day, czyli dzień, w którym wszyscy objadają się naleśnikami! Poniżej artykuł w języku angielskim wraz z wyjaśnionymi najważniejszymi słówkami na temat dnia naleśnika ;)
Shrove Tuesday is the term used in the English-speaking countries to refer to the day after Collop Monday and before Ash Wednesday (the liturgical season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday).In these countries, this day is also known as Pancake Day, because it is customary to eat pancakes on this day.
The reason that pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent is that the 40 days of Lent form a period of liturgical fasting, during which only the plainest foodstuffs can be eaten. Therefore, rich ingredients such as eggs, milk, sugar and flour are disposed of immediately prior to the commencement of the fast. Pancakes were therefore the perfect way of using up these perishable goods, besides providing a minor celebratory feast prior to the fast itself.
On Pancake Day, pancake races are held in villages and towns across the United Kingdom. In 1634 William Fennor wrote in his Palinodia:
"And tosse their Pancakes up for feare they burne."
But the tradition of pancake racing had started long before that. The most famous pancake race, at Olney in Buckinghamshire, has been held since 1445. The contestants, traditionally women, carry a frying pan (skillet) and race to the finishing line tossing the pancakes as they go. As the pancakes are thin, some skill is required to toss them successfully while running. The winner is the first to cross the line having tossed the pancake a certain number of times.
The tradition is said to have originated when a housewife from Olney was so busy making pancakes, that she forgot the time until she heard the church bells ringing for the service. She raced out of the house to church while still carrying her frying pan and pancake.
Since 1950 the people of Liberal, Kansas, USA and Olney have held the "International Pancake Day" race between the two towns. The two towns' competitors race along an agreed-upon course, and the times of all of the two towns' competitors are compared, to determine a winner. After the 2000 race, Liberal was leading with 26 wins to Olney's 24.
Interesting Fact:
The world's biggest pancake was cooked in Rochdale in 1994, it was an amazing 15 metres in diameter, weighed three tonnes and had an estimated two million calories.
Słowniczek z najtrudniejszymi słówkami
customary - zwyczajowy
pancake - naleśnik
associated - związany z, powiązany z
Lent - Wielki Post
fasting - poszczenie
ingredients - składniki
commencement - rozpoczęcie
contestants - uczestnicy, zawodnicy
skillet - patelnia
toss - podrzucać
determine - ustalić, określić
diameter - średnica
estimated - szacowany, przybliżony, przewidywany
