Surge in food prices fails to dent flipping fun at Cork City's annual pancake race

Despite data the cost of making pancakes has surged by more than a third, there was no shortage of good humour on Cork’s MacCurtain Street, where dozens of traders brought traffic to a halt for the annual pancake race — a tradition dating back to 1826

Flipping fun at the Metropole Hotel’s annual pancake race where traders from the VQ area of Cork City gathered to claim the winning title. Azim Ali (left) from The Address and Robert Bejanishvili (right) of The Metropole Hotel were joint winners. Pictures: Brian Lougheed

The cost of making pancakes has surged by more than a third in just five years, new figures show — but that didn’t stop Cork traders from taking to the streets on Monday to revive a long‑standing tradition ahead of Pancake Tuesday.

Ahead of Shrove Tuesday, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said the price of staple ingredients for homemade pancakes had jumped by 35.2% since 2020. A basket containing two litres of milk, six large eggs, and bags of flour and sugar that cost an average of €6.57 in 2020 now comes to €9.17, according to the latest data.