View full sizeGlobal variations of pancakes include (clockwise from the top) Saffranspannkaka, Korean Pancakes and Parsnip, Sweet Potato and Leek Pancakes.
Hot cakes: Global flavors inspire dinnertime pancakes
Eating pancakes for dinner isn’t something most of us are proud of. Often when we mix up a quick batter and plop it on the griddle, there’s an accompanying feeling of having failed somehow.
Pancakes lure us with their relative thrift (barely a few dollars’ worth of flour, eggs and milk can feed an entire family), and their forgot-to-go-to-the-store requirements of just a few pantry staples. But they don’t really seem like a dinnertime triumph. Not a well-balanced meal with fresh vegetables, no interesting departure from the norm. Just some flour and eggs.
Recipes included with this story: Saffranspannkaka, Korean Pancakes (Pajeon), Parsnip, Sweet Potato and Leek Pancakes With Sour Cream and Smoked Salmon.
Which is why it’s so surprising to learn that pancakes were once considered the epitome of indulgence. Shrove Tuesday, the holiday next week marking the lead-in to the season of Lent, is known in several traditions as Pancake Tuesday. And this isn’t because pancakes evoke the deprivation of Lent, a sort of plainer alternative to rich prime rib or a sweet chocolate dessert. It’s the opposite: Pancakes were seen as richness itself.
Lenten traditions vary across denominations and communities, but self-denial is a common practice, to repent and prepare for the upcoming Holy Week. Some Christians give up all animal products for a fully vegan diet, others abstain from indulgences like dessert. And so the practice of Pancake Tuesday developed, where stashes of butter and sugar would be baked up into sweet pancakes, to have a last hurrah of richness and clear the pantry for the penitent period ahead.
But in these Bisquick times, it can be hard to get excited about pancakes. So for those who want to keep the tradition alive in its original spirit, I present a collection of pancakes that make for a rich, delicious celebratory meal.
From Korea, there’s pajeon, a seafood-studded savory scallion pancake. The batter, light with rice flour, barely binds together a pile of shrimp and scallions (I also like to add some finely shredded cabbage, for a vegetable-studded one-skillet meal). Pajeon are enjoyed hot from the skillet with a tangy soy-vinegar-sesame sauce, for a deliciously flavorful spin on the common pantry meal.
Taking inspiration from the root vegetables of the season, I shredded some sweet potatoes and parsnips and tossed them with sautéed leeks, for an almost-spring spin on latkes. And to keep things delicious (and make this a dinner-worthy recipe), I topped them with a rich dollop of sour cream and cut their sweetness with a briny bit of smoked salmon.
Finally, for a more interesting and indulgent alternative to the sweet pancake, I turned to Sweden and its saffranspannkaka. This oven-baked pancake starts with a sort of loose rice porridge, enriched with eggs and ground almonds (chopped is more traditional, but I favor the smoothness and flavor of ground) and baked to a soft set. With its lashing of cream and eggs (not to mention the sweetly floral saffron strands), this definitely fulfills the use-up-the-good-stuff directive of Pancake Tuesday. And to add riches upon riches, the lightly sweetened, delicate cake is topped with a dollop of whipped cream and spoonful of berry jam. With recipes like these, Pancake Tuesday could easily become a weekly tradition.
– Deena Prichep is a Portland freelance writer and radio producer who blogs at
mostlyfoodstuffs.blogspot.com.
suppers and buffets with Bill & Sheila
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