Posted on 06/30/2021 6:48:05 AM PDT by mylife
For most Americans, the word "pancake" conjures a stack of fluffy, hot-off-the-griddle flapjacks, a pat of butter slowly melting beneath a rivulet of maple syrup. But pancakes take myriad forms around the world, from delicate French crepes sprinkled with sugar to spongy, sour Ethiopian injera to chewy-crisp Japanese okonomiyaki, studded with seafood and drizzled with sticky brown sauce and mayo.
Once you expand your horizons, you realize that pancakes are a tricky business, and they're nigh impossible to define.
You may be relieved to learn that everything is not, in fact, pancake. But pancakes are one of mankind's oldest prepared foods, which is why you'll find some iteration of them in virtually every cuisine around the world. The very concept of the pancake is millennia old, a legacy of our earliest forays into grain-milling. Indeed, it's likely that the earliest pancakes were indistinguishable from flatbreads—I'm talking wild grains, pulverized between a couple of stones, mixed into a paste with water, and cooked on greased rocks heated over an open fire. That's right: pancakes? Totally Paleolithic fast food. Both pancakes and flatbreads embody the idea that the most common and basic ingredients can combine into a whole far greater than the sum of its parts. . They're staple foods to be peppered with seafood, poultry, aromatics, or fruit; topped with whipped cream or cheeses, syrups, caviar, chutneys, or jam; used as a wrap for hearty stewed meats and vegetables. Tortillas become tacos; injera an entire Ethiopian feast; arepas a hearty, satisfying Venezuelan sandwich.
In other words, a pancake, no matter how you define it, is a lens through which to see the world. Before we dive in, though, let's take a look at the most common pancake variables you're likely to encounter.
(Excerpt) Read more at seriouseats.com ...
IHOP sucks!
LOL!!!
I’ve only just discovered the blintz
Now I am obsessed and cant get enough.
you have missed much...
huehuehahehahue
I just came here for the rabbit pictures.
I’m hungry.
I made pancakes this AM. 3/4 Aunt Jemima mix and 1/4 masa. Served with butter and honey I got from a local vineyard. He makes good wine but that honey is runny. But it was perfect for pancakes.
I have Strep so everything feels like I am swallowing a porcupine.
Ahhh, Rachel Corrie.
I give her a shout out every year. Her being squashed on my birthday makes the day just a bit sweeter.
The manner of her death was fitting for an Evergreen State College graduate.
Perfect.
Waffle House...it’s all you need to know!
need more butter..
For the last 58 years I actually thought that the pancakes and crepes I've been eating for my entire life were really good. Now I see no reason to ever make them so plain again. Serious.
I love to cook and do it quite a lot, but for some reason the universe just took this long to finally reveal blintzes to me and now it's like a honeymoon.
lotta pancakes on the list go wild
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