Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Pancake Day in Ireland

You learn something new every day.

My teacher at Alliance Francaise de Galway pointed out to the class that today is Mardi Gras, aka "Fat Tuesday." I've had the pleasure of celebrating Mardi Gras, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, in New Orleans during the official Mardi Gras when I was 20 and it was easy for those under 21 to enjoy a few drinks. There were no pancakes there, only lots of beer, beads, gumbo and king cakes with plastic baby Jesus dolls inside. No pancakes.

Anyway, we began to share our "Fat Tuesday" experiences - although I was the only one who called it that - and Mardi means "Tuesday" in French and Gras mean "Fat." Here in Ireland, as well as the United Kingdom and Australia, it's Pancake Tuesday. I had no idea what they are talking about and when I walked out of class and down Shop Street to the bus stop, a chef from Malt House restaurant was serving free pancakes and recipes in the streeet.

No comments: