You may be relieved to learn that everything is not, in fact, pancake. But pancakes are one of mankind’s oldest prepared foods, which is why you’ll find some iteration of them in virtually every cuisine around the world. The very concept of the pancake is millenia old, a legacy of our earliest forays into grain-milling. Indeed, it’s likely that the earliest pancakes were indistinguishable from flatbreads—I’m talking wild grains, pulverized between a couple of stones, mixed into a paste with water, and cooked on greased rocks heated over an open fire. That’s right: pancakes? Totally Paleolithic fast food.
And that’s where a clearer understanding of the pancake starts to emerge: Both pancakes and flatbreads embody the idea that the most common and basic ingredients can combine into a whole far greater than the sum of its parts. They’re quick-cooking staples that don’t require anything more than a pan (or a rock) and a heat source, but they’re also the basis for more involved cooking methods, canvases for countless ingredient combinations. They’re staple foods to be peppered with seafood, poultry, aromatics or fruit; topped with whipped cream or cheeses, syrups, caviar, chutneys, or jam; used as a wrap for hearty stewed meats and vegetables. Tortillas become tacos; injera an entire Ethiopian feast; arepas a hearty, satisfying Venezuelan sandwich.
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