Shrove Tuesday
The last day before the beginning of Lent on the Gulf Coast that once belonged to France, it is Mardi Gras, “Fat Tuesday”: Laissez les bon temps rouler!
It was first celebrated in Mobile, Alabama, but the big show these days is in New Orleans, and it is a holiday in the state of Louisiana, because people wouldn’t show up for work anyway, so why fight it.
A tradition is to serve King cake, which is a circle of cinnamon bun dough with a white frosting on top sprinkled with sugar colored purple, gold, and green. If that weren’t bad enough, they put the figurine of a baby in the dough, and whoever finds it in their piece is supposed to be lucky. Actually if you find it and don’t choke on it, I guess you are lucky. You should use a small ceramic figurine, as some of the cheap plastic versions melt in the oven [yummy].
In Britain, Ireland, and many of the Commonwealth countries Shrove Tuesday is celebrated as Pancake Day. Apparently people are using up everything they give up for Lent.
This year marks the end of the Covid restrictions on the celebration and to date resembles a “normal” (for a given definition of normal) celebration.
February 21, 2023 Comments Off on Shrove Tuesday
