Fat Chews Day

It sounds much better in French, doesn't it: Mardi Gras and Carnival- literally "fat Tuesday" and "without meat".

It's supposed to be the prelude to Lent, forty days where the finer things of life including fat-filled fare are sacrificed for a period of deep contemplation before the joy of Easter. Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday, as it's known in Britain, was once the occasion when all the forbidden foods of the Lent season, including eggs and fats, were used up conveniently in a frying pan, before the fasting began.

Sadly today, it's largely become just another scoff-up, with little thought for what follows. I'm not denying the enjoyment of a tasty pancake, especially when it's filled with maple syrup or lemon juice, but wouldn't it be good if a few more folk stopped to ask "what's it all about?" not just about what we put in our bellies, but what comes out of our hearts. But that's a subject for chewing over another day.