The Pancake Day that (almost) didn't happen

You might recall that, on Shrove Tuesday (aka Pancake Day), I went in search of pancakes in San Francisco. Well, as reported previously, the café was gone, and I'd walked all the way into the heart of the Tenderloin just to find that out. You're likely to have heard of the Tenderloin district if you've been in SF - probably in a conversation with the concierge, following the word "avoid" and preceding "at any time of day or night". Seriously, it's not that bad, but it does inspire a vague feeling of discomfort. Legend has it that the policemen who walked this then-dangerous beat were paid more and were therefore able to buy better cuts of meat, earning the locale its name.

I'd decided I wasn't seeing any pancakes that day, put it down to foodie misadventure, and wandered into a nearby kitchen shop. There was plenty there to keep me entertained for a while: inventive cooking utensils, cookbooks, and low-price cookware (relative to London at any rate), with a couple of cooking demonstrations thrown in. One of these involved something called Ebelskiver, which on closer inspection turned out to be Danish pancakes.

This is how they looked as they were being made. Pancake batter was spooned into an oiled pan shaped thus, and a teaspoon was used to drop dollops of raspberry jam into the centre.

The pancakes were turned over with curvy wooden implements. I heard knitting needles can be used too.

I didn't particularly feel like eating something filled with jam at that moment (I'd have preferred just the fluffy pancake), so I didn't try any. But at least I got a visual on some pancakes on Shrove Tuesday and managed to get some photographic evidence.

I was chatting to a couple of science teachers in front of this demonstration - a Euro/American couple teaching physics and chemistry in Beijing - who were in San Francisco for a conference. While I was firing away with my camera, they then struck up a conversation with another spectator. Just before that person left, I overheard that she was Danish and that she'd just moved to San Francisco from Singapore. Oh the things I might have told you about Danish Ebelskiver and her experiences in Singapore if I'd managed to speak to her! There's another term for the lexicon: foodie missed opportunity.

Love

Truffle

Lemony Pancakes

Good news! One of our followers has requested that I blog about the pancakes that she had at my place when she visited NC three years ago. I must be doing something right! I must be a good blogger or at least a good pancake maker!

Pancakes are a weekly tradition at our household on Sundays. It is usually preceded by some discussion between my two children (read fighting) about who will help Mamma make the batter. Then there is the routine cracking of the eggs, the measuring, the beating of the mixture and much smiling and washing of little hands. I dread the day that my little children lose interest in this ritual that I treasure so much.

Before you get too excited about the recipe, I have to inform you that my pancake recipe is not American - it is more European by nature. You are not going to have thick, starchy, steamy pancakes, but rather thin, eggy, unevenly golden pancakes. I was first introduced to them by my friend, Lemony, during our first year at Cambridge. She had decided she was going to have a party for Shrove Tuesday, a.k.a Pancake Day, which is the day before Lent begins. I believe Shrove Tuesday is about indulging oneself before giving up a list of things for Lent. Here's a link for those who might be interested in finding out more: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/shrove.html

So, she invited a few friends, all male, to our women's college, not that we were desperate to meet guys or anything, and we all enjoyed an evening of pancakes. The pancakes were delectable - thin, eggy, unevenly golden. She served them with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of sugar. And no, prayers were neither said nor thought about. She was an atheist, I Hindu, and the handful of others were more interested in the food and beverage.

I was reminded of those pancakes during a couples-only trip to Amsterdam for a dear friend's wedding. At the boutique hotel we stayed at, we were offered pancakes for breakfast, and lo and behold, they were just like the pancakes that Lemony had made! Upon our return to North Carolina, I was determined to make them for my little family. Some brief internet research was enough to make that first Sunday morning a hit and a tradition was born.

Here is my recipe for my dear friend in San Francisco:

1 cup flour
1 cup milk
a pinch of salt
1 Tbsp brown sugar (more if you like)
1 capful vanilla essence
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 Tbps melted butter
4 eggs

The trick I learnt from my mother is to beat everything but the flour together really well and then to add the flour at the very end. This takes the recipe to the next level. Serve with real maple syrup.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon