Request for Question Clarification by
tlspiegel-ga
on
20 Feb 2005 12:36 PST
Hi ffrose,
Please let me know if the information I found is satisfactory. If it
is I'll be happy to repost this information as your official answer.
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Frozen_20Flapjacks
"Ok, this might be a Yankee/Limey confusion here, but I make both
pancakes and flapjacks from time to time, and the two things are not
even slightly interchangeable.
Pancake: Batter fried thinly in a pan, about 30cm across, no more than
3mm thick. Good with maple syrup, lemon and sugar, blueberry jam,
spinach and ricotta, in fact almost anything.
Flapjack: Mainly oats with a little honey, baked in an oven. Cut into
fingers about 2cmx2cmx10cm. Adding some raisins to the mix is always
nice. Eat hot and unadorned."
*****
"That = 3mm thing is certainly not true of pancakes here. What do you
call them over there if they're 3mm thick? Mistakes?
"I always thought flapjacks was a synonym for pancakes (U.S.).
From dictionary.com: flapjack n : a flat cake of thin batter fried on
both sides on a griddle [syn: pancake, battercake, flannel cake,
flannel-cake, flapcake, griddlecake, hotcake, hot cake]"
*****
"it seems that UK flapjacks are not the same as US flapjacks but the
author appears to be talking pancakes. :)"
*****
"Over here (UK) we'd generally consider a pancake to be akin to the
French crepe - very thin. However, we do also get "American-style"
pancakes which are 5 mm thick and I think have a batter with bicarb to
give bubbles. Confusingly we also have Scotch pancakes which are about
15cm in diameter, 5-8 mm thick and very lush.
Flapjacks are most definitely oat-based chewy cakey things.
Oh the wonders of transatlantic mistranslation."
=========
http://www.ruscuisine.com/cooking-forums/viewtopic.php?topic=420&forum=1
Is it possible that there are regional variations or variations the
same way that pancakes are called pancakes (or flapjacks) regardless
of what is in them?
=========
Home Baking Association
http://www.homebaking.org/familyfun/2004_third_fourth.htm
BAKE FOR FAMILY FUN EXPLORATION:
"Why are pancakes made and served in almost every country?
Quick to prepare, use almost no fuel--wood, coal, electricity, or oil
to cook; uses staple grains; only a few ingredients needed.)
Why are they so popular in America?
When people from many different countries settled here, pancakes were
quick, simple and inexpensive to prepare. In America, pancakes helped
natives, settlers and escaping slaves survive. The ?journey cake? or
Johnnycake and flapjack are just two ?campfire? cakes that became
staples?eaten almost every day. Cornmeal was a major
ingredient?especially in the Eastern, Southern and Southwestern U.S.
Settlers might have died without the corn native peoples shared with
them."
[...]
"Say it with food??Sells Like Hotcakes? Hotcakes are the same as
pancakes, flapjacks, or griddle cakes. They?ve been fund raisers for a
long time?since the 1600s hotcakes were sold at fairs and community
events. By the nineteenth century, a popular purchase was said to be
selling like hotcakes."
=========
Pancakes - An American Breakfast Favorite
http://baking.about.com/library/weekly/aa091801.htm
"Doesn't matter if you call them Flapjacks, Hotcakes or Griddlecakes,
they are all just Pancakes to me. Pancakes are one of America's
oldest and favorite types of quick breads."
=========
Pancake History
http://www.pancakes.com/history.htm
"Henri Charpentier, a French maitre-d'hotel, emigrated to America in
the 1930s and brought the recipe with him. He is now credited with
popularizing them in the U.S. They were originally eaten with a sauce
of butter, sugar, citrus juice and liqueur, which eventually gave way
to the American practice of topping pancakes with maple and other
flavored syrups. Through the years, they've been called flapjacks,
buttercakes and griddle cakes. In the end they're all pancakes ..."
=========
Pancakes, Flapjacks and Griddlecakes
http://www.epicurean.com/articles/pancakes-flapjacks.html
"In colonial America, according to the Shorter Oxford Dictionary, the
making of pancakes or flapjacks started in the United States around
1600."
[...]
"Pancakes are in no sense strictly African or American. Almost every
culture has it's own version of the pancake. Flapjacks, crêpes,
crespelle, blintzes, adai, pfannkuchen, palacsinta, tortillas, pita
bread. The simple griddle-cooked flat bread is everywhere.
Variations on the traditional flour pancake abound."
=========
Best regards,
tlspiegel