Foodsday Tuesday: Suddenly, the Name Makes Sense

I'm Jewish, so Fat Tuesday was never anything but a holiday to me. I knew that it kicked off Lent, but seeing as I'm not supposed to give anything up for the next forty days (instead, I'll spend a week in April when God puts me on the Atkins Diet), the significance of the holiday that many of us will celebrate tonight (pass the beads, please!) has always been lost on me. As has the meaning of its name.

Until a few years ago, when I learned that Fat Tuesday is also Pancake Day, better known across most of Europe as Shrove Tuesday. Today isn't just the last day before Lent, but it's the last day to eat rich foods such as butter and eggs, which are traditionally restricted during the Lenten season. Similar to when my people eat or throw away (or donate) all the leavened products in their homes before Passover begins, many observant Catholic households (especially in England, Ireland, and Australia) make pancakes to use any of these ingredients that they still have leftover from the weeks leading up to Ash Wednesday.

But even if you're not Catholic, you can celebrate this holiday at the International House of Pancakes. All day today, all IHOPs in the country are offering a free* short stack of pancakes to anyone who comes in—even if you have no intention of giving up pancakes for Lent. We were on the scene at the IHOP in Port Richmond, and guarantee that nobody asked me for the date of my First Holy Communion before putting a plate of buttermilk pancakes (with blueberries!) in front of me. They were delicious. I very nearly cleared my plate.

And that, folks, is why they call it Fat Tuesday.

*IHOP does, however, suggest a small donation to the Children's Miracle Network in lieu of paying for your food.