THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTIONS

The Italians have a saying nearly as old as Carnivale itself;
a Carnivale ogni scherizo vale - at Carnival, every prank is allowed.  It is this sense of satire that fuels their celebrations.  No one and nothing is safe from ridicule, and elaborate parades on Martedi Grosso both poke loving fun and scathingly satarise current events, celebrities, and customs.  This particular aspect serves as the motivo essere ('reason to be') for several popular modern krewes and walking clubs in New Orleans.  The Italian city of Venice provides a special link to modern Carnivale.  Since each city in Italy is given the right to celebrate Carnivale in its own fashion, Venice became the home of high-concept, artistically-rendered costumes and bal masques.  For hundreds of years, Venetian Carnivale has represented the artistic heights of the mystique of the season, a tradition that was brought here by the immigrants that founded New Orleans' large Mediteranean population.
(FUN FACT:  Each March in Metairie, there is the annual Irish & Italian parade, combining the Catholic celebrations of St. Patrick and St. Joseph, yet another testament to the true melting pot that was, and always will be, New Orleans.)

THE CURIOUS SHROVE TUESDAY

One version of the Carnival celebration spans the unusual distance between the British Isles and the countries that once formed Prussia, called Shrove Tuesday.  Shrove comes from the old English term 'shrive', which meant to confess your sins.  During Shrovetide (Carnival), the faithful were required to confess all their sins from the previous year in order to free themselves from burden for the coming celebration.
But, instead of masquing or parading, the observers of Shrove Tuesday eat.  It is tradition for celebrants to eat as many as 12 times that day.  And what do they eat?
Pancakes.  Lots and lots of pancakes.  Symbols of the sun, the practical reason for this particular delicacy is simple.  Nearly all the main ingredients in pancakes-eggs, milk, butter, and syrups  were on the Lent no-no lists.  Rather than waste the food, they ate it all with great gluttony, as if storing up for the coming lean season.  They even have their own version of a Shrove Tuesday parade, the pancake race.  Women entered in this race carry frying pans with a pancake.  They must flip the pancake twice, once at the beginning, and once at the end of the race (extra flips are at the discretion of the racer).  This Dionysian fixation with pancakes mirrors the excesses of drink and revelry now associated with modern celebrations.  So, eat up!

Next up, the French bring Mardi Gras to America via the mighty Mississippi!

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