Pancake feats and recipes to flip over

(Christopher Elwell)

It's that time of the year again when the women of Olney, England and Liberal, Kansas, USA compete to restore honor to their hometowns and batter their rival, while others are cooking up pancake-based meals for traditional or purely flavorful reasons.

The Pancake Race, which dates back more than 550 years to 1445, will once again see handkerchiefed, apron-clad women race to the finish line, skillet and pancake in hand. This year the competition occurs on March 8 (at 11:55 AM for both time zones).

The friendly dual between cities began in 1950, after a leader in the community of Liberal saw a magazine photo of the pancake race in England and challenged the women of Olney to a pancake throwdown.

Pancakes and doughnuts are associated with the day preceding Lent as it was a means to use up rich foods like eggs, milk and sugar before the fasting season began.

But take note, there are some cultural differences: Americans eat flapjacks and Brits eat pancakes.

That is, the American version is the thick, cakey kind, while the Brit version is more crepe-style: paper-thin, served with sprinkled with sugar, lemon juice and eaten rolled-up.

If you plan to partake in Pancake Day, the Food Network has a long list of pancake or flapjack recipes that include apple pancakes, chocolate crepes with strawberries, buttermilk and lemon-scented pancakes, and the always-classic crepes Suzettes.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/holidays-and-parties/crepe-and-pancake-mardi-gras-recipes/index.html

If you really want to get worldly, the Russians also have their own version known as blini or blintzes. Allrecipes.com also has a catalogue of pancake recipes, which includes everything from pumpkin pancakes, gingerbread pancakes and beer pancakes.

http://allrecipes.com/Search/Recipes.aspx?WithTerm=pancakes&Page=1

Meanwhile, the record-setting time for the international pancake race was set in 2009 when Tasha Gallegos of Liberal passed the finish line at 57.5 seconds.

Competitors must flip their pancake at the start of the 415-yard (379 m) S-shape course, and flip it again after crossing the finish line, while still donned with a head scarf and apron.

http://www.pancakeday.net/