In medieval times, churches in England used to ring a bell to remind people to come to church to shrive themselves – confess their sins and be absolved — before the beginning of Lent. Afterwards, they reveled in pancakes made with the last eggs and butter until Easter Sunday, when the 40-day fast ended. In England today, few people observe the Lenten fast, but almost everybody makes pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, which is commonly called Pancake Tuesday. Some villages still hold traditional pancake races in which contestants must toss pancakes while they run along the course. The pancakes are invariably served with lemon juice and sugar.

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• pinch salt
• 1 egg , lightly beaten
• 2 cups (approximately) milk
• about 3 tablespoons melted butter, lard or oil
• granulated sugar for serving
• 2 lemons cut in half for serving

Instructions

Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Add the beaten egg and about half a cup of milk. Gradually stir the flour into the liquid ingredients, adding more milk as you go until you have a smooth batter thin batter the consistency of light cream. Whisk with an egg whisk until a little frothy and let it stand covered for half an hour (or longer if that’s more convenient.)

To make the pancakes, choose a heavy-bottomed frying pan that does not stick. Grease it with a little of the butter, lard or oil and let it slowly get very hot over moderate heat. Wipe the pan out with plenty of paper towel. Return to the heat and pour in a portion of the batter – no more than 1/ 4 cup – swirling it quickly round the pan so that it covers the base and begins to set almost immediately. As this happens, lift the drying edge with a spatula. When the surface is completely dry – 1-2 minutes – flip the pancake over and cook the other side for a minute.

Slide the pancake onto a plate. Let whoever is going to eat it sprinkle it with teaspoon or so of sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice, then roll it up and eat it. Pancakes are best eaten fresh from the pan, so have everybody sitting around ready and waiting and serve each person in turn. Makes about 10 pancakes.