Many people love to eat warm pancakes covered with butter and syrup in the morning. But Pancake Day — Shrove Tuesday — is the one day in the year that Rock aHallics eat pancakes all day long, or at least for supper. Pancake Day is a big holiday in Rock Hall, and the village loves to celebrate and share pancake suppers with their families and friends. This tradition started many years ago in England and carried across the ocean to our beautiful settlement of Rock Hall. Some will tell you that Pancake Day is just as important as Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day dinners.
Pancake Day is celebrated on Shrove or Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Lent is a Christian holiday established in the 4th century to mimic the 40 days of fasting that Jesus endured in the desert. Many Christians observe it by giving up something — often a favorite food. So our tribe generally eats lots of good food and has lots of fun the day before Lent begins. Shrove or Fat Tuesday is often referred to as Pancake Day because fats, which were generally prohibited during Lent, had to be used up. People would take all the fats, eggs and dairy products that they had left in their kitchens and use them to make delicious pancakes.
Now in Rock Hall, we like pancakes and waffles served with syrup, jelly, King-Po-T-Ric or Brer Rabbit. Nice sides would include eggs, chip beef gravy, sausage, bacon, scrapple and fried tomatoes and potatoes. If you are real lucky, you may see a nice rock or shad filet with roe next to or on top of your cakes. You must have pancakes for at least one or all meals on that day, or you may not have the best of luck, times or romance the rest of the year.
If you are not cooking or have not been invited out on Pancake Day, please remember Wesley Chapel’s Famous Pancake Supper. They are serving up the cakes and sides between 4:30 and 7:00 on Tuesday, February 21st and this benefits the children’s Camp Pecometh Fund.
I can’t find King Po-t-rik anywhere!