Whilst the traditional meaning behind Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake Day as it is more commonly known) may have been smothered over in the last few decades by the decadent tower of Pisa type stacks of American richness, generously slathered in melting butter and topped regally with a crown of maple roasted bacon, I am beginning to fear that the family tradition of making and eating the wafer thin style crepes is beginning to get shrouded by the usual daily misgivings of a normal family life.
Like the treasured ritual of the holy Sunday roast, Pancake Day has always held a sweet and significant place in my heart, a day which swiftly became the next important food date in my diary after Christmas.
Unlike many passionate cooks my love of food was only unearthed later on in life. After its many attempts to seduce me I finally succumbed to its charms but the one of the most food prolific moments of my childhood was me eagerly hovering over the stove watching in ore as our normal dessert of strawberry angel delight was shelved and my mum wonderfully created layers and layers of battery goodness. I greedily remember challenging myself to how many I could manage in one sitting although I’m pretty sure my thoughtful mother would cap it at about five, in fear that I would regurgitate everything on the recently vacuumed carpet . I really want to tell you that I drenched my pancakes in freshly squeezed lemon juice when in brutally honesty I gladly graced them with a gratuitous squirt of the popular toilet cleaner tasting Jif lemon juice that used to come stored in a plastic replica of the bright yellow fruit. Paired with heaped tablespoons of grainy granulated sugar if the more upmarket caster was unavailable I would quite happily stuff my face in the knowledge that this was my only night in which I would be able to get my years quota of pancakes and quite happily not touch another until the next Shrove's Tuesday came around.
Disguised under the more romantic title of crepes, pancakes are now more wildly available than ever, you are just as likely to see them on the dessert menus of the most exclusive restaurants as you are being made in food trailers that edge most county and village fairs. Other than my cherished childhood memories, the only other pancake that sticks firmly in my mind was one a consumed along the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Yes I was shadowed by the Arc de Triomphe and facing the imposing Musée du Louvre but the razor thin circle of batter that had been lightly teased with a layer of heavily fruited apricot conserve (unlike any I have ever tasted) could of possibly been the best pancake I have ever eaten outside of pancake day and until I am in that setting in that situation again, my pancake eating ways will be confined to the one day of the year that it is customarily meant for.
This year I have decided to whole – heartedly take on the true meaning of Pancake Day by masquerading these holy treasures in a number of different impersonations of their true self.
Just so I don’t accidentally blow my cholesterol levels for that day, I am starting off with a breakfast of tropical coconut pancakes refreshingly glammed up with some natural yogurt, passion fruit and mango. Lunch will make best use of last night’s mash potato by creating my feather light potato pancakes. Teamed with some homely smoked mackerel and an oozy fresh poached egg this could easily be turned into a brunch, dinner or a tipsy late night snack and to round off my flipping’ fancies I could only return to the one that triumphantly replaced my dinner once a year, the original, the primitive, the authentic ……….The Pancake.
Potato Pancakes with poached egg and smoked mackerel. (Serves 2 and easily doubled)
250g mashed potato or freshly cooked potatoes mashed
2 eggs lightly beaten
25g plain sifted flour
50ml milk
50ml whipping cream
Butter / rapeseed oil for frying
One pack of smoked mackerel
1 fresh free range poached egg.
Add the eggs to the mash potato and stirring all the time add the flour, milk and cream.
Melt the butter or the oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat. When the butter is foaming or the oil is hot use a tablespoon to gently spoon 3 or 4 small pancake shaped piles into the pan. After about 1 minute when the underside is beginning to brown flip them over and cook them for a further minute before resting them on a piece of kitchen paper.
Artistically pile up on your plate then top with the smoked mackerel and the poached egg.
1/2 cup of self - raising flour
3/4 cup of coconut milk
1 small free range egg
knob of butter
2 passion fruits - pulp extracted
Natural yogurt
Put a frying pan on to a medium heat, then whisk together the flour, coconut milk and egg.
Place the knob of butter into the pan then once foaming add tablespoons of your mixture into the pan to make small pancake type rounds. After about a minute the pancakes will start to bubble on the surface and go golden underneath, at this point flip over and cook for a further minute on the other side.
Once cooked dollop with yogurt and garnish with the passion fruit pulp.
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