Chandeleur is 1st of 2 pancake days

FRANCE’S two pancake days fall a week apart this year, the first, Chandeleur, being tomorrow.

Unlike its movable Easter-linked compatriot Shrove Tuesday, which most Britons know as pancake day, Chandeleur is fixed on February 2, 40 days after Christmas.

Chandeleur (Candlemas) marks the presentation of the baby Jesus in the temple at Jerusalem.

In the fifth century Pope Gelasius I chose to mark the event by giving pancakes to the poor of Rome, their round shape symbolising the sun.

With the approach of lent they were often made with flour from the previous year to finish off stock ahead of fasting.

Flipping your crêpes with one hand while holding a gold coin in the other is supposed to ensure prosperity for your family for the year, although it does make it more difficult and gold coins rarely show up in your change.

Other proverbs say that if it rains on Chandeleur, it will continue for 40 days but if Chandeleur has clear skies then winter is behind us. (Which is bad news for most of France apart from PACA - the only place where rain is not forecast during the course of tomorrow).

This year, Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday, falls next week on February 9 to give you another chance to get those pancakes flipping.
Photo:Flickr/Laura D'Alessandro