Shrove Tuesday.

                                                 The Easter procession in Jacarilla

                                   The church in Jacarilla, a central part of the community

I started writing Donna's Pink Kitchen one year ago exactly, on this day, Shrove Tuesday, my how quickly that year has passed!

Then, as now, I had spent time in my second home in Jacarilla, Spain, where there is still a very religious, celebratory connotation to Shrove Tuesday and lent.

Lent is a very important time for Spanish Christians, particularly Catholics and as with all celebrations, a great coming together of the community. In Jacarilla the Church is very central to the community, the bells ring out each Saturday evening and Sunday morning calling the flock to mass. Whether you partake in religious celebrations or not, you cannot fail to be caught up in the sheer drama and magic of the customs and processions and the overwhelming sentiment of everyone involved.

Whilst we see Shrove Tuesday as 'pancake day' probably mostly without knowing the origins or religious connotations, the Spanish understand the lenten period to be one of prayer, reflection and penance before Easter. Shrove Tuesday is the last day before the penitential season, a period of 40 days and 40 nights where Catholics abstain from luxuries such as meat, cakes, bread and sweets, it is also a time to try to add virtue to their lives.

As with many celebrations in Spain, they differ from region to region, and even village to village. However, the celebration of lent has a common theme and on Shrove Tuesday the pantry is cleared of meat and bread. In many regions young people go from house to house, asking for eggs, chorizo and bread. Neighbours exchange food for a song (the songs sang by the youths are passed from generation to generation.) The youths then gather all the ingredients together and prepare a meal, usually in the village plaza, where the community gather and eat the meal together.


Pancakes, frixuelos in Spanish, are often made with a variety of fillings - sweet or salty. The crepes can be filled with anything from egg custard, fresh orange slices or whipped cream, to scrambled eggs or melted cheese. I had chocolate frixuelos in a typical village restaurant which were extremely good.

Chocolate pancakes

Recipe
100g plain flour
15g cocoa powder
1 free range egg
1 free range egg yolk
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil plus extra for frying
250ml milk

Sift flour and cocoa powder into a bowl
Add egg and yolk and oil, gradually whisk in milk until smooth
Heat a little oil in a pan, add 2 tablespoons of batter and swirl over the base of the pan
When the underside is set turn the pancake over
When cooked slide onto a warm plate and serve immediately
(Alternatively you can cook several pancakes and pile them up and pop them in a warm oven for a couple of minutes before serving)

                             Delicious dusted with icing sugar and served with fresh strawberries

It would be lovely to teach our children here in the UK a little about abstinence. For many British children their daily lives consist of an abundance of junk food and computer games, we as a society rarely expect them to reflect or go without, in fact I have just read an article regarding a 12 year old boy, the youngest in Britain, who has had to have a gastric band fitted! The article hi lights the increasing problem parents in the UK seem to be having, ie not being able to deny their children anything. One mother, whose four year old daughter is obese and has had several teeth removed due to bad decay caused by her sugary diet, laments 'I like to have an easy life and giving in to Talulah makes my life easier.'

The Spanish have a saying: 'Sol que mucho madruga, paco dura.' 'Early ripe, early rotten.' The meaning: precocious children will mean much trouble later on.

So, I hope as you all tuck into your pancakes you will spare a thought for the virtue of abstinence and share this with your children.

Happy Shrove Tuesday
Love Donna xxxxxxxxxx