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Pancakes are the Rodney Dangerfield of the breakfast world. They don't get no respect. First, we can't agree on their name. There are hotcakes, flapjacks, hoecakes, johnnycakes, griddle cakes and even flannel cakes, and not the vaguest consensus about what makes one different from another.
Then there's the perception that the pancake is just a vehicle for butter, marmalade, maple syrup and other slatherables. The pancake is child's play to make and has heft and gut-fillability — precisely the reasons it's a go-to staple for church and Little League breakfast fundraisers. It can be made with scant equipment (a bowl, a griddle, a spatula and a flick of the wrist) and meager rations (eggs, flour, milk).
Come to think of it, the pancake is a fairly perfect food for these tough times — portable, cheap, chameleonlike and able to scale tall buildings with a single toss. And with Saturday being National Pancake Day, it's the best time to celebrate the flapjack.<
Pancakes predate ovens. They go back to ancient Rome, the sweet ones mentioned lovingly by Apicius in the fourth century A.D. Cooks around the world have made some kind of griddled batter concoction, often an easy on-the-go quickie; the term hoecake is a reference to when field hands would pour cornmeal batter on the blade of a hoe or shovel and cook it up over the fire.
From Irish boxty to Dutch pannekoeken, there are endless spins on a basic batter recipe. And though they've come to be associated with certain holidays (Shrove Tuesday for Christians, and Hanukkah for Jews if you include latkes in the pancake club), most versions are just straight-up breakfast comfort food.
Batter up
According to Jacob Shirai, the pancake maestro at Pinky's in Tampa, "It's like making the perfect burger. You cook it halfway and flip it only once." (Too much flipping toughens them.) The most important thing: Don't overwork the batter. Too much stirring and the flour's glutens are activated, resulting in a tougher cake.
"When I mix my dry ingredients into my wet I leave them lumpy. I do that because when I put the ladle into it, it gets mixed once again. And I like to add a little melted butter to the batter — it helps the pancakes to not stick," he says.
Fred Tirabassi, owner of the Kopper Kitchen in St. Petersburg for 28 years, has his own pancake do's and don'ts. His restaurant makes both standard buttermilk pancakes and multigrain. He has heard from many cooks that the secret to lighter pancakes is to bring the batter to room temperature before pouring. Also, his mother would whip the egg whites separately and fold them in for extra fluffy pancakes.
Though the thinness or thickness of the batter is a personal call, Tirabassi has suggestions for what to serve with the finished cakes.
"What you don't want is a dry pancake, which is why people put so much syrup on them. Trying to be a little more health-conscious, I use a little bit of maple syrup and a dollop of sour cream. I love eating them with sour cream and fruit like peaches or blueberries on top of the pancake. Then, if you want to do it all the way, you throw some walnuts on top, which takes it away from just a high-carb, high-sugar meal."
More pancake pointers
• Face it, the first pancake must be sacrificed to the pancake gods. It never comes out right. Still, make sure your skillet or griddle is fully 375 degrees before you start pouring batter.
• The cooking surface doesn't need to be greased if it's nonstick or if the batter contains butter.
• Small batter lumps are fine.
• To keep delicate berries intact, don't add them to the batter. Sprinkle them on the cakes once the batter has been poured and before they're flipped.
• Pour batter with a ¼-cup measure, a lipped ladle or a spring-loaded ice cream scoop (better for heavier batters).
• For big groups, pancakes can be held in a warm oven on paper-towel-lined cookie sheets. No stacking.
Laura Reiley can be reached at lreiley@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2293. Her blog, the Mouth of Tampa Bay, is at blogs.tampabay.com/ dining.
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