Pancakes or crepes are essentially flour, egg, milk and a bit of butter

Pancake or Shrove Tuesday is traditionally the final feasting day before the start of the six week Lenten period.

Shrove comes from the word “shrive” meaning to absolve. It’s observed by many Christians who consider the wrongs they need to repent and seek absolution for, hence the name.

Cultures across the globe celebrate this day. In New Orleans the famous Mardi Gras, or literally Fat Tuesday, festival takes place and it’s replicated in Portugal, Southern American, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Italy, as well as many commonwealth countries.

Eating pancakes was introduced initially to use up all the eggs, butter and milk before the fasting began on Ash Wednesday.

Nowadays it’s mainly used as a marketing ploy to push pancake mixes and ready made varieties.

Pancakes or crepes are essentially flour, egg, milk and a bit of butter. Cook them on a pan and toss them in the air – it’s all part of the drama and you won’t get that out of a packet.

Buckwheat pancakes or crepes are a classic dish in Brittany in the north of France. Thin crepes are filled with stuffings such as leeks and cheese or ham and topped with a fried egg or filled with apple or other fruit.

My recipe is for a fluffy pancake using buckwheat which is readily available in supermarkets and delis. Despite its name it doesn’t contain wheat but is a flowering plant who’s grain like seeds are ground up.

Here the flour is mixed with buttermilk, egg yolks and butter with whisked egg whites added to make for a light and spongy pancake. They’re topped with an apple compote and cinnamon maple cream. A decadent treat if you’re going to abstain for six weeks.

Lots of restaurants have sharing steak platters on the menu. Often the beef is cooked on an inside barbecue and served with béarnaise sauce on the side. Steak and this buttery rich hollandaise with the addition of tarragon is a timeless dish. There’s a bit of work in the sauce and a lot that can go wrong but it’s so worth it. You could serve chips but I’ve added a recipe for smokie potatoes.

Spuds are boiled for 20 minutes then drained and placed in a baking dish. Press them down to split the skin and drizzle over oil and seasalt.

For the smokiness the oil is Broighter Gold hickory smoked oil and the seasalt is smoked.

You might want to throw in a bit of broccoli as a token gesture but that’s up to you.