Top Liverpool chefs to battle it out for annual Pancake Day race

Liverpool’s traditional Pancake Day race, pitting the city’s top chefs against each other to celebrate Pancake Tuesday, returns to the city after taking a break in 2021.

Held in the gardens of Liverpool Parish Church, the annual race sees chefs from top restaurants in the city make the perfect pancake that will allow them to compete in laps around the gardens, while also flipping the pancake in a pan. The pancake must be thick enough to withstand the outdoors, light enough to be flipped cleanly while running, and must not fall from the pan.

Five chefs from Hotel Indigo, Tempest, Ma Boyle’s, Artists Club and Lunya Lita will race. Along with bragging rights, the winner receives an engraved pancake pan, presented by the Rector of Liverpool, the Revd Canon Dr Crispin Pailing.

St. Nick’s Courtyard

“The Pancake Day Race is a proud tradition. The winning chef will have their engraved pan installed in their kitchen for a full year. The weather might not always be on their side, but we know our city’s chefs are committed to the cause and will be determined to batter the competition”.

The origin of pancakes on Shrove Tuesday lies in the tradition of using up remaining fat and dairy products before ‘fasting’ began in Lent. Although people rarely give up dairy products in Lent today, many Christians still keep the tradition of giving something up as a way of preparing themselves for Easter. Held originally in the 1980s, the Pancake Day race was revived in Liverpool in the mid 200os.

It sees the start of a year of special events to celebrate and platform Liverpool’s hospitality industry. ‘Taste Liverpool. Drink Bordeaux’ is a new festival taking place from 2-5 June to coincide with the Queen’s Jubilee Celebrations. The team behind the festival, including some of the city’s best known chefs and restaurateurs, are promising ‘the most delicious weekend of the year’.

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