Pancake

A pancake is a batter cake fried in a pan or on a griddle with oil or butter. Pancakes can be eaten hot or cold, and are generally filled or topped with a sweet or savoury sauce or condiment.

Most types of pancake batter contain some kind of flour, most commonly wheat flour, or buckwheat flour, and a liquid ingredient, such as water, milk, or ale, although pancakes are sometimes made with cornmeal in the U.S. and potato pancakes are also popular in various European countries, such as Germany and Poland. In some countries, such as Egypt, Canada and the United States, pancakes contain a raising agent, such as baking soda or yeast. The batter of the Ethiopian injera is left to ferment in order to achieve a similar effect.

The oldest surviving recipe in the English language dates from the 15th century.

Types

British pancakes have three key ingredients: plain flour, eggs and milk. The batter is quite runny and forms a thin layer on the bottom of the frying pan when the pan is tilted. It may form some bubbles during cooking, which result in a pale pancake with dark spots where the bubbles were, but the pancake does not rise. These pancakes may be eaten sweet with the traditional topping of lemon juice and sugar, or wrapped around savoury stuffings and eaten as a main course. When baked instead of fried, this batter rises (depite having no raising agents – it rises because the air beaten into the batter expands) and is known as Yorkshire pudding. British pancakes are similar to the French crêpes, and Italian crespelle, but are not "lacy" in appearance. However, in Scotland pancakes, known as Scotch pancakes or drop scones in the rest of Britain, are more like the American variation and are served as such (see below).

Canadian or American pancakes contain a raising agent, usually baking soda, and different proportions of eggs, flour and milk which create a thick batter. This batter is either spooned or poured onto a hot surface, and spreads to form a cake about 1/4 or 1/3 inch (1 cm) thick. The raising agent causes bubbles to rise to the uncooked side of the pancake, at which point they are ready to be flipped. The resulting pancakes are very light in texture and are often served at breakfast topped with maple syrup and butter. According to Rastapapoulos, an American chef must shout "yee-haw" while flipping pancakes (in contemporary American culture this would be considered silly and is not done), much like "Opa" is shouted upon the Greek dish Saganaki. In the U.S., pancakes can also be referred to as hotcakes, griddlecakes, or flapjacks. A typical portion served in restaurants is 3 to 4 pancakes; a smaller number may be ordered by requesting a "short stack".

Pancakes similar to the North American pancake but smaller (usually about 3.5in / 9cm across) are known in Britain and Ireland as Scotch pancakes or (after the traditional method of dropping batter onto a griddle) drop-scones, and in Australia and New Zealand as pikelets. They can be served with jam and cream or just with butter. In the U.S. these are known as "silver dollar pancakes" since the individual pancakes are each about the size of a U.S. silver dollar (with Eisenhower on the face, no longer minted). In Scotland, they are rarely served as a breakfast item, but are more commonly considered a dessert item.

German pancakes often served in American pancake houses, are shaped as a bowl, come in a variety of sizes, some quite large and nearly impossible for one person to complete. They are commonly eaten with lemons and powdered sugar, although jam is sometimes used as well. The pancakes eaten in Germany, however, are of the British variety. They are called Pfannkuchen, although in some areas that is instead the local name for Berliner, a type of doughnut. In Swabia, cut pancakes (Flädle) are a traditional soup ingredient.

In Austria pancakes are called Palatschinken, a word derived from Latin placenta, and are usually filled with apricot jam. Similar pancakes with similar names can be found throughout the former Austria-Hungary (today Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia), see Palatschinken.

Scandinavian pancakes are similar to British pancakes. They are traditionally served with jam and/or icecream, although they may also be served as a main dish with a variety of savory fillings. Traditional Swedish variations can be somewhat exotic. Some resemble British pancakes with a tiny diameter; these are called plättar, and they are fried several at a time in a special pan. Others resemble German pancakes but include fried pork in the batter; these are cooked in an oven. There are also potato pancakes, called raggmunk. These contain shredded raw potato and, sometimes, other vegetables. If the actual pancake batter is left out, the fried cakes of grated potatoes are called rårakor. Both the latter kinds are eaten traditionally with pork rinds and/or lingonberry jam.

Vegan pancakes are not associated with any nationality, however they are a distinct and popular type of pancake. Generally, vegan pancakes emulate the American pancake by using direct substitutes such as egg replacer and soy milk. However, some variations employ baking soda and occasionally a small amount of vineger as raising agents.

In Malaysia and Singapore a pancake-like snack is made with a filling, usually cheese or kaya but occasionally bean paste, ground peanut, blueberry or custard. There are other interesting variations, such as those made with soya bean partially replacing the flour.

In Russia, Poland and Ukraine, blintz and blini are made from wheat or buckwheat flour, yeast, butter, eggs and milk.

In France, crêpes are made from flour, milk, and eggs. In the Alsace-Lorraine region of Northeastern France, eirkuckas have jelly and cream mixed in the batter.

In Ethiopia, injera is made from a fermented sourdough batter of buckwheat or the more traditional teff.

In Hungary, palacsinta are made from flour, milk, sugar, and eggs. They are served as a main dish or as a dessert, depending on the filling. Sweet wine can also be added to the batter.

In Italy, cannelloni are made from pancake batter or noodle dough. They are then filled, covered with cheese, and baked.

In Middle Eastern cuisine, pita is made from flour and yeast.

In India, dosa are made from rice flour and fried in a skillet.

In Chinese cuisine, green onion pancakes are the thin pancakes made with buckwheat flour and green onions, served with moo shu dishes.

In Mexico they are generally called "hot cakes" rather than "pancakes".

In Egypt, katief is made.

Details

Most types of pancakes, but not the Breton galette, are cooked one side at a time and flipped by the cook halfway through. The process of tossing or flipping them is part of the essence of the pancake, and one of the skills that separates the experienced cook from the beginner.

North American pancakes can be made sweet or savory by adding foods like blueberries, cheese or bacon to the batter; bananas are sometimes dipped in the batter to make "banana pancakes". British pancakes can be stuffed after cooking with a wide variety of sweet or savoury fillings. Both are often sweetened after cooking by pouring on syrup or sprinkling with powdered sugar.

In Canada and the United States, the pancake is usually a breakfast food, but it is so popular that a franchised restaurant called International House of Pancakes, commonly called IHOP, has more than 1,000 restaurants. North American pancake lovers travelling abroad should bring their own maple syrup, as it is produced in North America and can be expensive and hard to come by elsewhere. Even table syrup (a less expensive artificially-flavoured replacement for maple syrup) can be difficult to come by elsewhere.

In Britain, pancakes are eaten as a dessert, or served savoury with a main meal. They are also traditionally eaten on Shrove Tuesday which is also known as "Pancake Day". According to tradition, this was in order to use up the last of the fat and rich foods before Lent. Charity or school events are often organised on Pancake Day. One popular event is a foot race in which each participant carries a pancake on a frying pan. They have to keep tossing their pancakes in the air (and catching them again!) as they run.

Every Shrove Tuesday, the towns of Olney, England and Liberal, Kansas have a pancake flipping competition. The two towns' competitors race along an agreed-upon course, and the times of all of the two towns' competitors are compared, to determine a winner. There are other 'Pancake Races' in Britain, but Olney (according to legend) is where it all began.

In an old story about Olney a woman was cooking her pancakes when she heard the bells of St Peter and St Paul's Church calling her to worship. She ran out of her house still holding the pancake in its pan, and still wearing her apron. This is how the Pancake Race originated.

Other English-speaking countries, such as Canada and the United States, also celebrate Pancake Tuesday, though to a lesser extent.

In the Netherlands pancakes are eaten at dinner. Pancake restaurants are popular family restaurants and serve many varieties of sweet, savoury, and stuffed pancakes.

In Sweden it is traditional to eat yellow pea soup followed by pancakes on Thursdays. There is no such nationwide consensus regarding the other days of the week.

A smaller pancake, often called a "silver dollar" pancake, is sometimes used in the creation of hors d'oeuvres in place of crackers or other bread-like items.