On one of the Tuesdays in February or March, which coincides with, a hearty holiday is celebrated – International Pancake Day (International Pancake Day), which is especially popular in England and America.
In the United States, the first pancake festival took place in Kansas in 1950. But in the English town of Olney it has been held for more than 500 years.
It began with the fact that once during Lent one of the townspeople secretly roasted in her kitchen. Suddenly there was a bell ringing. The poor hostess was so scared that, forgetting about everything in the world, she rushed to church … right with a frying pan in her hands and pancakes crunching on it. This was in 1445.
Since then, the townspeople have held an annual pancake race – women, certainly in dresses and aprons, must run a certain distance, tossing a pancake in a frying pan.
A similar tradition exists at Westminster School in London – a pancake baked with horsehair so that it does not fall apart is thrown in a pan, and then the students try to grab a larger piece.
So in Albee and Liberal, women run through the streets every year with pans in hand, flipping pancakes as they run. And the winner’s reward is the kiss of the bell ringer, honor and respect.
Well, and the pancakes that did not fall from the pans during the races are then eaten together by the spectators.
For reference: in the West, thick pancakes are called pancakes, which is usually translated into Russian as pancakes. AND – Crepes.