The Herald - The Herald Magazine
A BRIEF HISTORY OF
PANCAKES
Some 5,300 odd years ago a Neolithic man set off to cross the Italian Alps. He was probably in his mid-forties and about 5ft 3in tall. It was to be his last journey for three millennia until his frozen body was discovered down a rocky gully in 1991.
Otzi the iceman, as he became known, provided a wealth of information about the Neolithic diet. His last meal included meat in the form of red deer and ibex and, evidence suggests, a pancake.
In fact, the history of the humble pancake may date as far back as 30,000 years. Analysis of starch grains found on grinding tools from that date suggest stone age cooks were making flour, which could easily be mixed with water and fried.
The ancient Greeks added honey to pancakes, the Elizabethans preferred spices, sherry and apples. The first recipe for pancakes in a cookery book dates to 1439.
Shrove Tuesday, or pancake day, comes around again on Tuesday (47 days before Easter Sunday). It’s a tradition that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times when Christians went to confession and were “shriven” for their sins.
It was the day when any eggs and fat would be used up before the Lenten fast, or so the story goes. As food historian Fraser Wright has pointed out, by the 18th century neither milk nor eggs were being mentioned in recipes for pancakes.
What about local customs? F Marian MacNeill’s classic
1929 book The Scots Kitchen contains two Scottish traditional recipes for pancakes, the sooty bannock (made with oatmeal) and Scots crumpets, which are thinner than their English counterparts and perfect for rolling. Which one are you making this Tuesday, then?
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