Pancake

HISTORY

Pancakes are one of mankind's oldest prepared foods, and virtually every culture has their own version of them. They originated somewhere in the Mediterranean area in around 10000 BC when someone had the bright idea of cooking a cereal paste on a stone in the sun.

The earliest known pancake-like dish was Alita Dolcia, a honey-covered treat Ancient Romans made from milk, flour, egg, and spices.

Throughout late medieval Europe pancakes had a place among Easter foods, especially on Shrove Tuesday (or Mardi Gras), the last day before Lent. Customs varied from country to country.

The “shrove” in “Shrove Tuesday” is the past tense of the old verb to shrive, which means to confess one’s sins.

In England a pancake race, started being held at Olney in Buckinghamshire in 1445. It is said to have started when a housewife was still busy frying pancakes to eat before the Lenten fast when she heard the church’s shriving bell. calling her to service. Eager to get to church, she ran out of her house in her apron still holding the frying pan complete with pancake.

By Lestalorm - Wikipedia Commons

The expression "as flat as a pancake" was first recorded in 1761 though "as flat down as pancakes" dates back to least 150 years earlier.

It is estimated that the British use 52 million eggs on Pancake Day - 22 million more than on a regular day.

INGREDIENTS

The earliest known pancakes were made about 12,000 years ago from ground grains and nuts, mixed with water or milk and cooked on hot stones.

The basic recipe of eggs, milk and flour has been found in English cookbooks from 1439.

The batter used to make pancakes is almost exactly the same as the batter used to make regular cakes. The pancake batter is just a little thinner.

In Sweden you can order Blodplättar, which are pancakes made of pork blood.

Pancakes are round because gravity pulls on fluid uniformly—when batter hits the griddle from above, it gets tugged down into a circle.

RECORDS

The current world record for eating pancakes in 8 minutes is 113 pancakes, set by Matt Stonie on May 28, 2016 at the World Silver Dollar Pancake Eating Championship in Chico, California. Stonie, who is known as "Megatoad" in the competitive eating world, beat the previous record of 103 pancakes set by Joey Chestnut in 2015.

To set the record, Stonie ate 113 silver dollar pancakes, which are about the size of a silver dollar coin. He started by eating the pancakes quickly, but slowed down as the competition went on. He also drank a lot of water to help him swallow the pancakes.

The world’s largest pancake was made in Rochdale, Manchester, England on August 13, 1994, by the Co-Operative Union, Ltd. Measuring 15.01 m (49 ft 3 in) in diameter and 2.5 cm (1 in) thick, the pancake weighed 3 tonnes (6,614 lb) and contained a staggering 2 million calories.

The world's most expensive pancake was made at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel on Peter Street in Manchester. Costing a huge £800 (around $980). its ingredients include lobster, caviar and Dom Perignon champagne.

The record for the fastest ever marathon run while continuously tossing a pancake is 3hr 2min 27sec by  Dominic "Mike" Cuzzacrea at the Casino Niagara International Marathon on October 24, 1999. To set the record, Cuzzacrea used a special Teflon-coated frying pan that was attached to his waist by a belt.

Mike Cuzzacrea is known as the "pancake man" and he also holds the record for the highest pancake toss at 9.47m (31ft 1in). He achieved it at the Walden Galleria Mall in Cheektowaga, New York, USA, in November 2010.

The record for tossing a pancake in one minute was set by Australian celebrity chef Brad Jolly in 2012. He flipped it 140 times in 60 seconds.

Dean Gould, from Suffolk, England set a world record for pancake-tossing at 349 in two minutes. He practices using a frying pan and a whoopee cushion.

Sources Daily Express, Daily Mail, Food For Thought by Ed Pearce, Housetohome.co.uk