Flippin’ great!
LEMON and sugar, maple syrup or cherries jubilee… whatever your favourite topping, nothing beats a good pancake. Here, we go mad every February for Shrove Tuesday – this year, February 25 – but travel around the world and every day is pancake day…
AMERICA
WHEN I see American pancakes, I imagine 1989 film Uncle Buck, in which John Candy uses a snow shovel to make a metre-wide stack for his nieces and nephew. Baking powder is added to make pancakes thick and fluffy and they are served for breakfast with butter, maple syrup, whipped cream or sugar.
FRANCE
COMMON in France, Belgium and Switzerland, really thin pancakes known as crêpes are loaded up with fruit, chocolate or jam and rolled into a cone for easy, on-the-go eating. Some people go for savoury crêpes with fillings such as cheese or spinach.
RUSSIA
WHEN we think of blini, we imagine the pancake’s tiny cousin, served at cocktail parties as an appetiser.
Russian blini are somewhat bigger. Considered a symbol of the sun in pre-Christian times, these light, thin pancakes are eaten with sour cream or butter nowadays.
GERMANY
IF YOU visit an outdoor market in Germany, be sure to pick up a wonderfully named kartoffelpuffer. These hugely popular pancakes have potato added to the mix and are fried up until crispy and golden then served with applesauce.
INDIA
CRISPY dosa are made from fermented rice and black gram batter and often served with sambar, a lentil-based vegetable stew. They are also delicious rolled up and stuffed with spiced potatoes, vegetables and coconut chutney.
CHINA
JIAN Bing are hugely popular in China at breakfast time. This traditional street food is served with vegetables, sauces, pickles and herbs with bao cui – fried crackers – for crunch. The consistency of these pancakes varies across the country, ranging from chewy and bread-like to light and paper-thin.
AFRICA
INJERA are served in Ethiopia and Eritrea to accompany hearty stews. The spongy, round bread-like pancake is often used as both a plate and a utensil – it’s great for scooping up vegetables – which would definitely save on washing up!