Superquinn bakers go flippin' crazy
a million times over
The Superquinn bakers' motto at the moment is 'Flip it up, throw it over and do it again…' as they make up to one million pancakes in the period up to Pancake Tuesday. Using some 250,000 eggs, 42 tonne of flour, 890 kg of butter and 5 tonne of sugar Superquinn is the only supermarket group in Ireland to prepare and cook pancakes freshly in-store. Bakers have been working flat out making pancakes on demand for customers in all 18 Superquinn shops.

The pancake tradition originated from Lenten times when the eating of dairy products was prohibited. Pancakes were made to use up supplies of milk, eggs and butter. Pancake Tuesday is also known as Shrove Tuesday as it was the day when the priest 'shrove' his parishioners of their sins so that they could enter the fasting season, Lent, with a clear conscience. Even the church bells that rang early on Shrove Tuesday morning summoning everyone to confession and to be "shriven" became known as Pancake Bells. The bell ringing also reminded all to use up the "forbidden foods" before Lent.

Pancake Tuesday is celebrated around the world. New Orleans has Mardi Gras, which literally translates as 'Fat Tuesday', and Brazil have Carnival from the Latin for "farewell to the flesh". While New Orleans throws its most famous party of the year and Brazilians samba in the streets of Rio, the Irish celebrate by eating pancakes.