Pancake Tuesday

It is Ash Wednesday, and my Catholic friends begin their Lent today - may it be a fruitful one.

It has come to my attention that the day before Ash Wednesday is not just known as Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras) or Shrove Tuesday, but Pancake Tuesday as well. In honour of information new-found, this post is dedicated to pancakes.

Pancakes

Call them flapjacks, batter cakes, griddlecakes, hot cakes, johnnycakes, or wheat cakes, pancakes are a delight to the senses - the warmth when they come steaming from the pan, the slightly oily rubberiness when they have been refrigerated, the rich aroma of freshly cooked batter, the rush of (syrup) sugar over the tongue, the slightly chewy texture, the taste that says 'this is comfort food'.

Indeed, I suspect that while there is a just prohibition against living by bread alone, I cannot see the fault in living solely on pancakes.

Here is my favourite recipe, courtesy of a friend. The resulting pancakes are a little more crêpe-like than your more typically Western fluffy pancake, less like bread, a trifle chewier, simply heaven. I recommend them either with icing sugar and lemon juice or with maple syrup.

Prisca's Pancakes

1 1/2 cups flour
1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
3 Tbs. sugar
3 Tbs. oil
1 - 1 1/4 cups water or milk

1. Beat eggs together. Add other wet ingredients.
2. Mix dry ingredients together.
3. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Mix.
4. Pour small amount of batter into a pan, and fry with a little oil.

And here is an ode to pancakes.



- V.