Pancakes Day!!!

BLYNAI, BLYNAI and once again BLYNAI...

 

Today is pancakes day in Lithuania, so lets shortly talk about it. The celebration/festival is called Užgavėnės. So in translation blynai means pancakes in Lithuanian language.

Užgavėnės is a Lithuanian festival that takes place during the seventh week before Easter (Ash Wednesday). Its name in English means "the time before Lent". The celebration corresponds to Roman Catholic holiday traditions in other parts of the world, such as Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, and Carnaval.

The way people dress up on Užgavėnės

Užgavėnės begins on the night before Ash Wednesday, when an effigy of winter (usually named Morė) is burnt. A major element of the holiday, meant to symbolize the defeat of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, is a staged battle between Lašininis ("porky") personifying winter and Kanapinis ("hempen man") personifying spring. Devils, witches, goats, the grim reaper, gypsies, and other joyful and frightening characters appear in costumes during the celebrations. The participants and masqueraders dance and eat the traditional dish of the holiday - pancakes with a variety of toppings.

 

Bonfire during the Užgavėnės

In Lithuania's capital Vilnius, the celebration takes place on Gediminas Avenue, as well as at many youth organizations. The festival is a major event at Rumšiškės open-air ethnographic museum.


Lithuanian pancakes, also known as blynai (BLEE-nigh) and sklindziai, is a popular treat for Shrove Tuesday (Uzgavenes) along with spurgos. This recipe is made with white wheat flour and beaten egg whites, which makes a very light pancake. They are silver-dollar size and usually accompanied by honey or fruit preserves. For apple blynai, add a peeled and grated tart apple to the batter. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

1. In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks until light. Add flour, sour cream, milk, and salt and mix until smooth. In a separate medium bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold the egg whites into the yolk-flour mixture, trying not to deflate the volume.
2. Add a small amount of butter to a nonstick skillet and portion onto it generous tablespoons of batter. Fry until golden, flip and fry until the other side is golden. 
3. Serve hot with honey, chocolate, preserves or whatever You want or like. 

Personally, I like hot pancakes, but it is also quite good to eat them cold. What is more, as it is possible to find numerous recipies of pancakes, next time I will writte about one more traditional Lithuanian dish - potatoe pancakes! 

And to sum up, although I have no proper conditions right now to cook in good conditions, Pancakes Day is Pancakes Day, I am not allowed to ruin this tradition so it is the must to make them. The photo below is my and my flatmates morning "piece of art" (flour pancakes with banana and chocolate ) ...

Skanaus!  ;)

(source of recipe: https://www.thespruce.com/lithuanian-pancake-recipe-blynai-sklindziai-1136764)