Flip, flop flapjacks take flight
A flipping good time was to be had on Plimmerton’s main street last week, as dozens of people raced up and down the footpath tossing pancakes to celebrate Shrove Tuesday.
About 50 entrants and spectators gathered to watch the relay races outside St Andrew’s Church on Steyne Ave, which involved teams of three running while attempting to flip a pancake in a frying pan.
Twelve teams competed in the races, the youngest entrants just toddlers and the oldest team having a combined age of 251.
The Vella Hotcakes team from Cafe Vella was fastest on the day but all teams left with a prize.
Divine Caterers, who sold jam and cream-smothered pancakes to the crowd, were named yummiest tossers, while a team of women who sang Hallelujah while running and flipping were deemed most musical tossers.
Retired vicar Ian Bourne from the Clergy Tossers nearly lost his pancake mid toss but managed to catch it over the edge of his pan.
‘‘A very good save. What do you expect from the clergy?’’ organiser Stephanie Drew told spectators.
In the Christian calendar, Shrove Tuesday marks the day before lent begins. Many Commonwealth countries mark the day with a pancake flipping race.
The tradition is said to have started in the 1400s in Buckinghamshire, England, when a housewife was so busy cooking pancakes that she lost track of time. Hearing the church bells ringing, signalling the start of Shrove Tuesday, she ran to church, still flipping her pancakes in the pan.