How to make perfect pancakes

It’s strange that I’ve never before shared my pancake recipe. But it’s also true that since it’s such an easy, simple recipe that has been part of our lives for as long as we can remember… Well, I never thought of posting it. It was because I shared some videos on my Instagram stories making pancakes at home. The reception was so good and you were so many who asked me to share it, that here it is. A super simple recipe to make today, if you wish.  I’ll leave you with How to Make Perfect Pancakes.

I think the pancakes were one of the first things I learned to cook along with French fries. The number of times I must have snacked on pancakes with whipped cream (at that time, sprayed and, of course, with a big pile in the mouth, hahaha) or French fries. I really loved to have fried potatoes for snacking… My mother hallucinated, of course. But since it was something I had learned to do on my own, I enjoyed it as if it were a delicacy.

Pancakes origin.

Apparently, and contrary to what many of us may think about their true origin, pancakes have a religious provenance. According to some history books, the ancestors of pancakes date back to the 4th or 5th century AD.

During Lent, in addition to the church’s ban on eating meat, foods such as butter, eggs, cheese and milk were not allowed either. All of them of animal origin. Something very similar to what happened with Stollen, I tell you in this post in detail.

Necessity brought out creativity and ingenuity, so that people began to make a paste/batter made from a base of flour and water. To cook it, they spread a very thin layer on hot stones.

Centuries later, the church authorities allowed milk, eggs and butter to be incorporated into the Lenten diet. These were added to the flour batter, giving rise to what are now pancakes.

In medieval times, it was customary in villages and monasteries to prepare lots of pancakes on the first Tuesday of fasting during Lent, to share with all the neighbours. Those that were left over were reserved to be eaten during the forty days of abstinence because they were very well preserved.

A recipe that has traveled the world.

Like many other preparations, pancakes can be found in many variations throughout Europe and the Americas. In France we can find a much thinner version, the famous crepes, in Germany they are made from potatoes in the same way as placki ziemniaczane. In Russia, and other Slavic countries, the famous blinisare made, ideal to be eaten at any time of the day accompanied by sweet or savoury food.

South America they are known as pancakes and are very similar to crepes, with a thinner dough and a filling that can consist of jam or dulce de leche, in its sweet format, and also with chicken or vegetables such as spinach in its savoury format.

And we cannot miss the USA and its very famous pancakes accompanied by fruit salad, chocolate, jam or maple syrup. Although they can also be served with savoury dishes.

The popularity of this preparation is such that in some countries the “Pancake Day, Pancake Tuesday or Shrove Day” is celebrated, coinciding with Shrove Tuesday at the beginning of Lent.

Making perfect pancakes.

It’s a recipe that holds no mystery. Even our kids can make it at home. I can tell you that it was one of the first things I learned to do and one of the first things my mother let me cook at home alone. Well, the latter was when I was 12…

As simple as adding all the ingredients in a bowl, mixing and pouring into a pan. The summum of simplicity and enjoyment in the same preparation. Besides, it is one of those recipes that if you feel like it, you can be enjoying it in the next 20 minutes… If you are not happy, it is because you do not want to 😀