Shrove Tuesday and parts of the Commonwealth, Shrove Tuesday is also known as "Pancake Day" as it is a common custom to eat pancakes as a meal. Elsewhere, the day has also been called "Fat Tuesday" or "Mardi Gras". In Germany, the day is known as Fastnachtsdienstag, Faschingsdienstag, Karnevalsdienstag or Veilchendienstag (the last of which translates to violet [the flower] Tuesday), and celebrated with fancy dress and partial school holiday. Similarly, in German American areas such as Pennsylvania Dutch Country, it is known as Fastnacht Day. In the Netherlands, it is known as "vastenavond", or in Limburgish dialect "vastelaovond", though the word
Shrove Tuesday tradition was taken to Hawaii, where Shrove Tuesday is known as Malasada Day, which dates back to the days of the sugar plantations of the 1800s, the resident Catholic Portuguese (mostly from Madeira and the Azores) workers used up butter and sugar prior to Lent by making large batches of "malasadas". In Denmark and Norway, the day is known as "Fastelavn" and is marked by eating "fastelavnsboller". Fastelavn is the name for Carnival in Denmark which is either the Sunday or Monday before Ash Wednesday. Fastelavn developed from the Roman Catholic tradition of celebrating in the days before Lent, but