A Pancake Love Story

They can be a hearty breakfast stack, a delicate afternoon tea treat, or a spontaneous weekend ritual. Felicity Cloake, the brilliant UK food writer for The Guardian, famously set out to perfect the American pancake, tall, fluffy and unapologetically indulgent. Meanwhile, in Russia, blini are served with caviar, and in Australia we give that idea a local twist with pikelets topped with smoked salmon when we are feeling posh.

Serve pancakes on a lazy weekend and the kids will love you for it. Let them make their own and your kitchen will soon tell the tale, with flour dusting every surface, egg shells bobbing in the batter, melted butter trickling down the stove, sticky fingers, and dogs happily licking up buttermilk from the floor.

I have fallen for the Balinese version, pisang kepok, tender pancakes studded with sweet baby bananas or served with caramelised banana and coconut cream. A squeeze of lime and you have the breakfast of champions, the perfect fuel for a day of wandering through rice paddies and breathing in the lush air.

And then there is Shrove Tuesday, otherwise known as Pancake Tuesday, the traditional day for using up all the buttery, eggy luxury ingredients in the kitchen before Lent. Not a bad reason to embrace the custom next year with even more vigour.

There is something truly special about the sizzle of fat in a hot pan, the slight resistance of the batter as it hits the heat, and that moment of patience before the flip, waiting until the bubbles have appeared and the surface has just begun to dry. That is when you know you have nailed it. Unless, of course, you have a son like mine who prefers them still a little gooey inside.

Pancakes are a food for sharing. Cook them together. Laugh together. Eat together.
Have them savoury or sweet, thick or thin.
Stuff them with ricotta and call them a Russian treasure, syrniki.
Drown them in maple syrup and make them Canadian.
Or squeeze lemon over the top and sprinkle with sugar as a reward for holding out on sweetness in the batter.

At St Bart’s, we have brought that same joy to our breakfast mornings when corporate volunteer groups come in to cook for our residents. Pancakes have become a firm favourite. They are made fresh on electric pans, delivered piping hot, and taken to the tables where residents can choose a topping of maple syrup or honey. Some sprinkle a little sugar, and next time we will be sure to add lemons to the mix. It is a comforting treat that never fails to bring smiles. For the volunteers, it is a chance to get creative and share a moment of fun, cooking up the humble Aussie pikelet and serving it café-style to those who truly savour every bite.

At The Fearless Kitchen, pancakes were the first recipe I ever taught, to my own children and to the hundreds who cooked with me in classes in New Zealand. They were our foundation, learning to crack eggs and use a half shell to fish out any stray bits, to measure ingredients properly, and to whisk the eggs and milk from the centre of the bowl, drawing in the flour slowly to avoid lumps. These days you can use a mixer, but it is good to know the way without. If the power goes out, you will still manage. More importantly, you will remember the joy of the process itself: hands busy, laughter in the air, pancakes sizzling away, and hearts full.

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Pancakes might just be the world’s most universally loved food. According to researchers at the Smithsonian Magazine, early humans were making them some 30,000 years ago, proof that comfort food has been with us since the dawn of time.

Every famous chef and food writer has paid homage to pancakes in one form or another. Thankfully, there is no debate over their origin, unlike the ongoing pavlova rivalry between Australia and New Zealand. Their global acceptance only reinforces their place as a timeless favourite, the perfect meal whether you are working with the bare essentials or feeling luxurious with decadent toppings and fillings.