Officially, Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Unofficially, Shrove Tuesday is Pancake Day. This year, I was lucky enough to be able to head into town and catch a pancake race. I enlisted Juzzy, my current unemployed partner in crime, and we headed to Brick Lane to watch the Great Spitalfields Pancake Race.
So how do you race a pancake? The race was a relay involving teams of 4 members, a frying pan and a pancake. Competitors had to run along the length of Dray Walk carrying their pancake in a frying pan. Each team member had to flip the pancake at two designated stops along the course. When contestant one reached the end of the walk, they passed the pan and pancake to the next team member. Number two would race back to the starting line and pass the “baton” to the next team member, and so on.
There were 4 heats, 2 semis and 1 final. It was great fun to watch with lots of spills, both contestants and pancakes. I was impressed by the technique of some teams. Some of them didn’t even break their sprint when flipping the pancake. I’m positive there had been some heavy duty practice put in by these pancake-flipping proficient teams. Although, I did hear one explanation for expert pancake-flipping from one contestant. He put his skills down to the fact that he was French.
Talking about practice, I do feel the team that placed first may have had a home ground advantage. The winning team, Execution, were from a company of stock brokers based on Dray Walk, the very street where the race was held. Stock broking attracts competitive individuals. I wonder how many late-practices they held.
Pancake Races. Sounds like a bit of silliness, doesn’t it? Well after some research I’ve found out that it’s actually a long-standing tradition. The most famous pancake race at Olney was first held in 1445. Pancake races? A 500 year old tradition? Who would have guessed.
