Pancake Day

Jorge is a chef from Valencia. Since January he has worked in a small cafe in York, in the north of England. He makes good coffee, excellent omelets and, in his opinion, the best Spanish tortilla in Yorkshire.

On Tuesday morning the owner, Dave, arrives with a big smile. "Jorge, today is Pancake Day!" "Pancake what?" "Pancake Day. Shrove Tuesday. Everyone in England eats pancakes today. Hundreds of them. With lemon and sugar." Jorge looks at the kitchen. "How many eggs do we have?" Dave opens the fridge. "Two dozen." "Two dozen? That's not enough! That's twelve pancakes."

Dave runs to the supermarket. He comes back with a bag of flour, three cartons of milk and no eggs. "There weren't any eggs. Everybody has bought eggs today." "So now we have too much milk and not enough eggs," says Jorge. "Perfect."

At eleven o'clock the first customers arrive. By twelve, there is a line outside the door. Jorge makes pancakes with two eggs, then with one egg, then with half an egg and a lot of hope. He uses all the flour. He uses all the milk. He sends Dave to the farm shop for a box of eggs, then for another box.

At three o'clock the cafe runs out of lemons. At four, it runs out of sugar. At five, Jorge sits down for the first time. He has made three hundred and twenty pancakes.

"How much did we make?" he asks. Dave counts the money. "More than in a whole normal week." Jorge wipes his face. "Next year," he says, "we buy twenty dozen eggs in January. And the tortilla goes on the menu too."