Oh Pancake Tuesday. To give it the official name – Shrove Tuesday. This is  the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Shrove Tuesday was a day when all the rich foods had to be used up, before the onset of a time of abstinence. So all the eggs and milk had to go. Where did they go? Into  pancakes, of course! Food traditions nearly always have a good reason. Shrove Tuesday is a title hardly used today,  unless you are particularly religious.  Pancake Day is the name that has stuck, for a day when Pancakes are the order of the day! The old fashioned way to serve a simple pancake is with lemon and sugar. But we’ve found a huge surge in popularity for savoury pancakes too. It’s been a long standing tradition for this writer,  to make the whole dinner out of pancakes – main course and dessert – on Pancake Day.  Savoury ones can include rolled up pancakes filled with shredded ham and good mature cheese, topped with a cheese sauce and extra cheese and bubbled in the oven till golden.  The Italians make a dish called Crespelle, where thin pancakes (crepes) are filled and folded, arranged in a dish, covered with lots of cheese or topped with a thick tomato sauce, and baked crisp in the oven.  Sounds delicious doesn’t it? Irish cheeses come into their own on Pancake Day.  Check our cheesemakers for deliciously creamy and mature Irish cheese. Some are made with organic milk and you could try a cheddar like Knockanore Farmhouse Cheddar with crispy local bacon, or a soft goats cheese like Blue Bell Falls for your filling – with young spinach leaves in the mix. Any other ideas?