Pancakes

            Millions of Americans eat them for breakfast every day.  They have been made available at quick stops, as fine dining, and at famous fast food restaurants throughout the world.  Why not?  Who can resist the warm, buttery, fluffy and especially sugary, taste of pancakes?  Doesn’t the smell of pancakes bring back memories of the iconic golden, thick syrup, and loved ones for every one of us?  That hasn’t always been the case.  Served in the past as finger food to be eaten alongside meats and vegetables, pancakes have a diverse history which can be found in every culture on earth. 

The Pancake Bakery by Pieter Aertsen 1560



 The Pancake Woman by Rembrandt 1635

The history of pancakes goes back to the beginning of time.  Before ovens and pans, early civilizations would make crude pancakes on thin rocks over a fire.  When the pan became a more common sight in the kitchen, pancakes where one of the first things to be cooked in them.  The Greeks made pancakes which they simply called “Frying Pans”.  The actual word pancake is a little hard to trace etymologically.  The dictionary will usually want to give the definition of pan or cake.  However, the word pancake as a whole can be found in English print as far back as the 13^th century.  Pancakes seem to have become popular in Europe as a way for the poor to cook their grain.  They developed a simple batter of ground barley, water and salt and by using this method of cooking that batter on thin rocks or in a pan over a fire, they didn’t need access to the master’s oven.  The rich, who also loved pancakes, used more refined and expensive ingredients to make their own version as a perfect showcase for their wealth.  They would make pancakes with sugar, milk, and the finest flour to impress everyone at their table.  In the 18^th century, recipes were given for rich and poor versions of pancakes in William Ellis’ book,” The Country Housewife’s Family Companion” published in 1750.  The pancake remained popular and comes over to America with the British to Jamestown. They might have been shocked that the Native Americans already had their own version of pancakes called “nocaheche”.  These Native American cakes would later become part of America’s culinary history.

 

Universal Cook and City and Country Housekeeper

1792

 

 

            In the 18^th century, cookbook authors mentioned several different categories of pancakes.  They mentioned savory pancakes like a recipe for Clary Pancakes found in the “Universal Cook: and City and Country Housekeeper”.  This savory recipe calls for you to take pancakes and layer them with clary leafs. (My research leads me to think that the clary leaves are like big sage leaves.) And then you have sweet pancake recipes which called for milk, sugar and eggs to be used.  There are also recipes for plain pancakes, which were not sweet or savory.  Instead, you just used flour and water with some salt to make a form of light dinner bread of sorts.  Any of these pancake types could be served at one or more dinner courses.

 

Pancakes from the

Universal Cook and City and Country Housekeeper

1792  

            The Hoe or Johnny Cake is arguably the most American of all pancakes.  The Hoe or Johnny Cake has its origins in that previously mentioned Native American nocaheche.  The Native Americans would grind corn, mix it with water and cook it on thin stones.  The colonists saw this and imitated it by cooking their batter in pans.  Their slaves, not having access to pans, came up with another method.  They would mix their ration of cornmeal with water, build a fire and cook it on the hoes they were had been using in the field.  That is how the Hoe Cake gets its name.  It is said that towards the end of his life, George Washington, not being able to eat much else, ate Johnny Cakes often.  He would soak them in milk and eat them with molasses or maple syrup drizzled over them.  In fact, Hoe Cakes are such an American invention that the first American cookbook, Amelia Simmons’ “American Cookery” published in 1796, has a version in it.

 

Hannah Glasse The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy

1774

            From being enjoyed by rich and poor alike, pancakes have become a universal comfort food for the masses.  Adapting to every culture it finds itself in; pancakes are truly a universal food in that way.  Enjoyed by our colonial ancestors and their ancestors alike, we have a link through pancakes to those early civilizations that long ago only had barley and water to use for pancake making.  So the next time you are eating pancakes, whether at your breakfast table at home or the local pancake house, take a minute to think of the extraordinary, culinary connection you have with long ago…time travel not required!