NAME YOUR PANCAKE!
THEY'RE IN EVERY
CULTURE

You’ve been there. Familiar water droplets skating across your skillet tell you the grid is hot. It’s time to drop some batter onto the surface. Wait for the evenly-spread "enclosed bubbles." Time to TURN ONCE. A heavy iron skillet and medium-high heat help pull your caper off. Pancake’s ready!

Pancakes have a history all their own. There's the religious history of pancakes, and there's the "necessity is the mother of invention" history of pancakes history.

Early Christians had their Shrove Tuesday, a.k.a. Pancake Day or Fat Tuesday, also the Tuesday immediately before Ash Wednesday. In preparation for their observance of Lent, when they abstained from meat, fat, eggs, dairy products and most food pleasures, they created Fat Tuesday, designed to use up all the Lent-forbidden items, a last fling for the religiously serious. They shot the works to their pancakes this day.

The "necessity" history of pancakes is common sense. Every civilization somehow learned grains ground into flour became become cakes or patties with the addition of a little liquid.  The next step was to singe them on a hot rock to make them crisp. Simple, early hot food. Fast forward to colonial America and a much later time. Here, slaves carried homemade dry pancake “mixes” in a pouch to the fields with them. When it was time to eat, they added water to the pouch, worked it into a batter and baked patties on a hot hoe over an open fire.

     What makes pancakes "poof up," can be laid at the doorstep of three basic physics of cooking:

·                                                                       Primitive:  (no eggs, no baking powder)  This is an unleavened bread mentioned in the Bible.

·                                                                       Egg cakes: Popovers and Yorkshire Pudding is an example.

·                                                                       Risen cakes: These have some form of leavening, either yeast, baking powder or soda.

 Virtually all nations have at least one dish which uses a pancake as container for fillings or toppings:

·   British Isles:  Scottish Bannocks, English crumpets, oat cakes

·   China:  Egg rolls or spring roll.

·   Egypt:  Katief

·    England: Yorkshire pudding is a baked pancake

·    France:  Crepes

·    Italy:  Cannelloni (filled crepes)

·    Kosher:  Matzos pancake, blintzes

·    Latin America:  Enchiladas in tortillas

·   Mexico:  Enchilladas, tacos, meat and salad in tortillas

·    Newfoundland:  Hotcakes served with molasses                                 

·    Romania:  Spinach pancakes

·   Russia:  Buckwheat blinis

·   Southern India:  Lentil patties

·   Southern US:  Cracklin' bread

·   Trinidad:  Roti

·   Wales:  Crempop

·   West Indies:  Green corn cakes, or corn oyster fritters

The combinations are infinite, and you are restricted only by your imagination. Select a basic pancake recipe or mix. Feel free to stretch your options, by separating batter into smaller bowls and vary what you add to each. No two pancakes need to be alike. Consider some of the suggestions below: 

• Vary your use of flours, sauces, liquids, nuts, spices and fruits
• Puree, or finely chop,  fruit, vegetables even meats
• Add cereals, hot or cold for interesting effects
• Use novelty meals, such as corn, sorghum or quinoa
• Flours such as with whole-wheat flour, soy flour, buckwheat flour, wheat germ, cornmeal or brown rice flour
• Add mushrooms, cheeses, maybe Roquefort or almond cream
• Try liquors such as rum, sherry, pina colada, cognac in pancakes or in topping
• Pieces of candy or candy bars
• Experiment with pizza toppings, omelet ingredients, hors d'oeuvres makings in pancakes

When it comes to toppings, turn your imagination loose. This leaves you free to work with any of a number of syrups, fancy butters, chutneys, yogurts, grated cheese--you dream it up!

© Copyright, 2001, Marty Martindale, Largo FL