Thursday, February 11, 2016

Oops - I missed pancake day! Quick - where's the maple syrup?

Oh, dear, I missed pancake day. I'm supposed to be on a diet and this would have allowed me to eat pancakes. I love pancakes, especially with maple syrup. One hundred percent pure Buckwud Canadian maple syrup. Yummy.

In England traditionally we would eat maple syrup with strawberry jam or lemon and sugar or lemon and honey. Countries all over the world eat pancakes. The French have large thin pancakes with Grand M a r n i e r (spell check keeps inserting Mariner) served around Mont St Michel. The Americans eat tiny round thick pancakes, like the slice off the top of a muffin.

The Russians have pancakes with savouries, as do many European countries. Blinis, with sour cream.
The Italians have cannelloni, a tube or spiral of pasta around spinach (Florentine) or meat in white sauce, with a white cheese sauce on top.

The Indians have pancakes, or sweet breads. Masala dosai with potato - my favourite.

The Chinese serve Peking Duck with shredded spring onion and soy sauce, wrapped in wafer thin savoury pancakes.

Pancakes, Shrove Tuesday, were originally a way of using up last year's flour before lent when you gave up eating goodies.

The basis, the origin, is supposed to be the Jewish festival of Passover, (Jesus's last supper), when matzoh or unleavened bread is eaten.

A Discovery Channel programme went through the ten plagues afflicting the Egyptians when Moses said, 'Let my people go'. The angel of the Lord passed over the houses of the slaves but the firstborn of the Egyptians died. Why? What was the mysterious illness and why did it affect the firstborn? How could so many have died or been poisoned in heavy guarded homes the slaves could not enter?

The answers were:
St Vitus's dance, is a widespread poisoning of wheat when it grows mould after a long rainy season. The cure is to clear out all the old wheat before the next harvest to ensure the new flour is not contaminated. The firstborn died because they were always treated to extra portions of food.

I gave up pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. I'm running late this year. Can I celebrate with pancakes at the weekend? For anybody who doesn't follow tradition, but just like celebrating seasonal customs, why not eat pancakes all week. The latest commercial idea is matching pancakes with wines. A sweet wine?

An amusing idea. But for those of us who eat pancakes for breakfast, and didn't' drink before the working day ends at six, it's just pancake with maple syrup. Delicious!

Useful websites
https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/buckwud-100-pure-canadian-maple-syrup/538317-197920-197921?gclid=Cj0KCQjwtOLVBRCZARIsADPLtJ1RnHSwL9f-5muxQySjmeGHzfhWDTVkjs42nH-ZAggT4sn6XKcCJAEaAuxcEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CN3rtdPMitoCFcmi7Qod_64JbA

https://www.facebook.com/buckwudmaplesyrup/

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

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