No. That is NOT how you cook them!

[neadods]

Ever since I discovered that American iTunes has BBC 4 podcasts, I've been doing more or less the audio equivalent of stripping down and rolling around naked in them, luxuriating in the wide variety and the options.

Until a certain episode of "Cook the Perfect..."

The first problem is the same one all of them have; it's an audio description of a visual experience. Not too bad when you can look up a photo online, but when cooking it's necessary to know what the speaker means by "a little flour."

The episode that undid me was Cook the Perfect American Pancakes. Now, I didn't know until Gally of last year that there was a difference in pancakes between the US & the UK. "Fake Keith" described British pancakes as thin and flat, while the ultimate accolades for pancakes in these parts is "fluffy and buttery."

The speaker in "Cook the Perfect..." dealt with this by using what sounded suspiciously like the British recipe, only separating the eggs and whipping the whites to get the loft, and... no. Just no. Yeah, it will rise and it should taste more or less OK, but that is most emphatically not a proper American pancake, much less a perfect one! We, depending on the recipe and the region, use baking powder, baking soda, or even ginger ale to get that loft and you know the right time to flip it because the bubbles stop rising to the surface you're looking at. Egg whites don't bubble.

The icon is me having a bit of a lie down to get over the shock.


(Look, it was either rant over pancakes or guns and/or the Presidential race. Either way, I feel better for a bit of strop.)

Comments

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

I have a British pancake recipe my mum-in-law sent me, and I'd describe them as much more crepe-like than American ones.

Ginger ale? Fascinating. I use the standard Joy of Cooking recipe for American pancakes, which calls for both baking powder *and* baking soda. I seem to remember my dad using Bisquik, when I was a child (it was one of two things he made).

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Crepes make sense - France being right there to swipe 'em from. And I hadn't heard of many ginger ale recipes, but I have heard of some, and chemically it would be an interesting way of goosing the baking soda's release of carbon dioxide.

Bisquick is basically flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and powdered milk.

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

UK pancakes are very thin - kind of like French crepes. They're traditionally eaten on Shrove Tuesday with sugar and lemon.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

That sounds kind of good, actually. Whereas ours are solidly breakfast food -- eggs, meat, and pancakes are kind of the "Full American" version of the Full English.

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

They're yummy! More like dessert, though, or festival food - served with loads of sweet fillings like chocolate spread. I have had savoury ones, but that was my mother stuffing them with vegetables and serving them with a cheese sauce as vegetarian food.

I was trying to explain to an American in the writing group the other day that pancakes aren't typical breakfast food in the UK!

[paratti.livejournal.com]

Pancakes are thin and what might be called crepes in the US.

They are also best consumed with lemon juice and a little sugar.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

As a dessert, a Shrove Tuesday ritual, or part of breakfast?

[paratti.livejournal.com]

Shrove Tuesday is Pancake Day here but they are usually eaten in the evenings as dessert and not breakfast.

[redpanda13.livejournal.com]

There was a recent recipe column in The Guardian about "American pancakes" and most of the various versions showed bacon strips draped across the top of a high stack-- not something I've ever seen in our country.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Wha-? No, I've never seen that either.

[evil_plotbunny]

I've seen them served that way in diners, but I believe one usually moves the bacon strips off before eating.

[inamac.livejournal.com]

I did an illustrated British Pancake post last year : http://inamac.livejournal.com/262088.html

I always understood that American pancakes involved a raising agent - although they look superficially like Scotch Pancakes - but neither of these sounds like the i-tunes recipe.

And I've never heard of a BBC show called 'Cook The Perfect...' - it must be a 'Furrin' Special'.

Besides, everyone in Britain uses Delia recipes (even me, sometimes). Like her Roast Chicken with stuffing.

And now I want to make pancakes.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I think the podcast is "cook it right" or "cook it well" or something like that - I couldn't tell you because I deleted it after I stopped twitching.

[raqs.livejournal.com]

Well, you are 100% right. Hope that makes you feel better too!

[neadods.livejournal.com]

:)

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

my pancake recipe has no eggs at all, but there are still plenty of bubbles while it's cooking. they're also THE BEST PANCAKES EVER. ask nonelvis; i made some for her last weekend. :D

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Of course you have bubbles - they come from the baking powder/soda. What do you use for a binder instead of egg? I adore eggs, but I eat too many of them.

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

apple sauce!

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Interesting! What, about a quarter cup? Because if I could make oat-flour or sweet potato pancakes with applesauce, I'd be well on my way to pretending they're health food and not junk food. (I'm well aware that my circulatory system would appreciate me looking into vegan cooking.)

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

this is pretty much the recipe i use except i always end up using way more applesauce and soy milk. probably closer to 3/4 cup applesauce and a cup of soy milk, but it varies.

and if you want to make them feel healthier you should probably avoid doing what nonelvis + i did, which was fry them in a quarter inch of hot oil :D


eta: now from my regular LJ account, and not the one i write questionable fic with!

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Now I'm totally going to go look at that fic!

[nonelvis]

prof_pangaea's pancakes really are delicious! But I'm also sure I've made pancakes with that separated egg technique -- which I'd have learned from an American cookbook, what with having almost no British cookbooks to speak of. It doesn't cook up as fluffy as a pancake with a leavening agent, but it's still got good texture.

ETA: I traced the separated egg technique to an old (pre-rewrite) edition of The Joy of Cooking. That recipe also includes leavening, though I'm certain I've left that out at least sometimes. You can certainly argue that a JoC recipe, particularly one that's likely to be original or close to it, is European-influenced, but it's also one that's probably been used by millions of Americans many, many times.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I can see where it would have a nice loft and the taste should be right because the basics - flour, egg, milk - are all there.

Now I have to look at my Joy of Cooking. I have two of them - the latest which was also supposed to be the greatest, but also one dating from the 40s because that's what my Mother got as a wedding present and therefore that's what I grew up eating. Agreed: that's the quintessential American cookbook.

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

I have to gently disagree as long as Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook (http://www.amazon.com/Crockers-Picture-Cookbook-Crocker-Editors/dp/0028627717/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344748951&sr=1-1&keywords=betty+crocker+cookbook+1950+edition) is in print. That's the book my mom learned to cook from as a bride, since her mom was never much good at it. I, alas, take after my grandmother.

The big plus of this book is the photo tutorials, which are actually somewhat useful. The pics in Joy of Cooking (the 70s edition, anyway) always seemed more decoration than information.

Edited for HTML WTF.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

That is a good one - I learned a lot from it when I was a kid. (My mother taught cooking like some folks teach swimming: "Here's the cookbook and there's the kitchen, kid. Good luck.")

Better Homes and Gardens is a good one too; I know the whole Komen/pink thing is beyond contentious these days, but before it was an issue I bought the pink plaid and I've never gone wrong with it.

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

Ah. I was taught cooking by someone standing over me & periodically yelling, "That's not how you do that!" Hence my interest in the photo tutorials. And my near-total lack of interest in cooking now.

[penguineggs.livejournal.com]

Does this recipe look closer to what you'd think of as pancakes?

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Yes - near to dead on!