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.

Pancake Day! Hurray!

I beat the diet police. I reminded them it's pancake day. We missed breakfast pancakes so we're planning pancakes later in the day, starting with lunch time.

Let them eat pancakes! (My variation on 'Let them eat cake', supposedly said by Marie Antoinette, although attributed to another lady much earlier. I don't need to move the last two word phrase. The lady was earlier and the attribution was earlier.)

This is a dieter's pancake, thin and semi-circular. A fussy chef or restaurant would make one perfectly round to fit a plate just slightly larger than the pancake. (So you match the size of pan and plate before you start cooking.)

Everybody should either know by heart or stick on the fridge or inside the larder / store cupboard door the ingredients/recipe for everyday pastries:

Pancake: Flour, egg and water/milk. (Pancake mix in any shop if you're in a hurry but cheaper to make your own and most homes have the ingredients.

Crumble: Flour and butter. Easiest pastry and fun if you like kneading with fingers, and no need to roll it out.

Shortcrust: Flour and ... You need a pastry board, floured to stop it sticking, and rolling pin, might be available in a holiday let if you are stuck indoors on a rainy day. Too much mess for me.

Biscuit base for cheesecake: Biscuits and ... I always think any recipe which suggests starting with somebody else's bread or cake is cheating, except for using up leftovers - I make an exception to this rule for

Bread and butter pudding. Bread and butter, and/or milk, and you can add sultanas.

Bread: Flour, water, yeast to make it rise - must wait, several hours in your hot cupboard with a clean tea towel over the top to be sure it doesn't overflow on your clothes and your socks don't fall in the bread. Cook in oven when risen.

Where to start?
Great to start children on cooking pancakes as the mixing is quick and easy. The cooking is fun.

Toss?
Never mind tossing pancakes. Wait until your pancake is starting to set underneath. Don't let it burn. Cook both sides by turning careful with a nonstick utensil. If money and space are abundant, and you like collecting novelties, use one of those fold-over pans.

Pancake Recipe Used Today
100 g of flour
2 eggs
300 ml milk (or less)
1 tbs olive oil (Most for frying, some in the mixture if you like)
salt to taste

More recipes
Google recipes and pick either the simplest (for beginners) or most unusual (for gourmets).
See my earlier post on the origins of pancake day and Lent and Passover and using up flour to keep the new harvest foods fresh and uncontaminated.

Angela Lansbury BS Hons CL ACG
Author, photojournalist, speaker and speech trainer.

Prepare for Pancake Day, shrove Tuesday February 17 - Cobbs farm shop display

What do you need to know about preparing for pancake day? You could make pancakes from a pancake mix but it's so simple that even a small child can mix the mixture using items most people stock in their kitchen. Toppings can be lemon and sugar, or maple syrup.

This picture is from Cobbs farm shop. I am so glad and grateful that they reminded me. 

I am on the Cobbs mailing list so I expect to be sent regular updates of events and promotions. If you fill up their form giving your address and email address their discount card is posted to you.