LIVINGLIVING MAKING CARBS COUNT
Sudi Pigott loves pancakes so much that she wrote a book about the
vast culinary world beyond the lemon-and-sugar variety. Here she
explains her interest.
FLIPPING GOOD
STUFF!
Who doesn't love
pancakes?
They are a
simple, honest,
universally loved
comfort food. With their cosy evocations
of home, they are very much back in
vogue, nowadays fused with modern and
global food trends.
Pancakes make us happy and the
ritual of cooking and flipping the batter
merely adds to their appeal. What I
love most is that every culture has their
own pancake tradition talked about
with great affection. My own fondest
pancake memories are of competing with
my brother to flip pancakes on Shrove
Tuesday. Nor will I ever forget my first
experience of crepes suzettes at The Ritz,
flambéed with great ceremony.
To me, pancakes in all their delicious
diversity have long been one of the most
pleasurable, life-affirming foods. I wanted
to vividly demonstrate that there is a world
beyond pancakes eaten with lemon and
sugar, that there's a whole culinary world
for the gastronomically curious to explore.
What makes them so popular is that the
basic recipe is adaptable to incorporate
local flours or to use gluten-free flours
if needed. They don't even have to be
made exclusively from grains - think
chestnut, chickpea, quinoa or coconut.
Fluffy pancakes involve some baking
powder or cream of tartar, and some even
use fermented ingredients.
Pancakes can be sweet or savoury. Add Parma ham, ricotta,
pine nuts and a smidge of pesto for a savoury Italian twist.