Pancakes, Hot Cakes, Griddle Cakes, Flap Jack....whichever you prefer...

An ever-popular breakfast dish, pancakes are what we in the culinary world consider quick breads. This means that they rise quickly because they contain considerable moisture and chemical leavening. Certain food anthropologists believe that the earliest forms of pancakes (consisting simply of ground grains and water) may have very well been the first real cooked food. In Canada,the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia, pancakes are traditionally eaten on Shrove Tuesday, which is also known as "Pancake Day." Shrove Tuesday is more widely known in the US, France and other countries as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday. Historically, pancakes were made on Shrove Tuesday so that the last of the fatty and rich foods could be used up before Lent.

What many IHOP-goers and pancake-consumers may not know is the large-scale presence of the pancake or a form of a pancake on a global scale....The following is a list of countries with their form of pancake...

France-crepe
Sweden-plankakor
Scotland-oatcakes
Ireland-boxty
China-onion cakes
Austria-nockerl
Italy-castagnaccio
German-pfannkuchen
Netherlands-pannekoeken
Hungary-palascinta
Russia-blintzes
India-pooda

Despite the global existence of pancakes it appears that the US is the only country to turn pancake mix into a factory-produced and pre-packaged mix of "ingredients." Allow me to defend this claim...here's an "ingredient" list for a popular brand of pancake mix....

INGREDIENTS: ENRICHED BLEACHED FLOUR (BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), SUGAR, LEAVENING (SODIUM BICARBONATE, SODIUM ALUMINUM PHOSPHATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), SALT, CALCIUM CARBONATE (A SOURCE OF CALCIUM).

...hmmm....I don't think I see a lot of things at my local supermarket. In pancake mix's defense there are definitely more artificially produced foods. Like this for example...


I like pancakes and I like sausage and sure I'll eat them at breakfast time but that does not mean I want to eat them together on a stick!! But hey, maybe I'm just weird....>_>