Edible Ink by Bambi Edlund, bambiedlund.com
Why not top off a breakfast favorite—pancakes or crêpes—with not only some delicious syrup, but also a few trivia facts? We’ve got you covered with a few fun facts to share around the breakfast table! And if you are looking to support Finger Lakes food producers as you make your flapjacks or crêpes, try using Farmer Ground Flour based in Trumansburg, eggs from Westwind Poultry Farms in Ovid, and maple syrup from Wohlschlegel’s Maple Farm in Naples, N.Y.
Pancake Facts
The Tuesday preceding Ash Wednesday is widely celebrated as a day of indulgence. Depending on where you are, the day is known as Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday. The tradition of making pancakes on this day began as a mighty fine way to use up butter, milk and eggs before Lent.
La Chandeleur is celebrated in France on February 2nd with a feast of crêpes.
Originally a fertility ritual performed during crop-planting, it is thought that crêpes became associated with La Chandeleur because they look like the sun.
The highest recorded pancake toss was 37’7”.
The Olney, England pancake race has been held on Shrove Tuesday since 1445. Competitors run in an apron and headscarf, while flipping a pancake in a pan.
According to French superstition, if you hold a coin in one hand and successfully flip a crêpe with the other, you will have a prosperous year.
Syrup Facts
It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup. One maple tree yields 10-15 gallons of sap per season.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the idiom “fl at as a pancake” has been in use since at least 1611.
In France, crêpes are often served with just a squeeze of lemon and sprinkle of sugar.
