145 thoughts on “Food Liberalism & The Death of the Pancake”

    1. My grandmother, a woman in her 80’s from small-town eastern North Carolina, served us blueberry pancakes the morning after Thanksgiving every year when I was a kid. Not new at all.Report

    3. Seconded, you can have my blueberry pancakes (ideally made with sweet wild Nova Scotian blueberries not their fat bland mildly sour commercial cousins) when you pry them from my cold dead hands.

      Also having come to Minneapolis with its Scandinavian and dutch roots I’ve discovered, with joy, the ancient tradition of the pannekoeken which would surely give poor Adrian heart palpitations of a negative variety.Report

      1. PEOPLE SHOULD BE FREE TO CHOOSE THE PANCAKES THEY WANT!

        (Or crepes, I suppose, if that’s what they like. Even waffles, maybe, if it proves necessary.)Report

            1. Next you’ll tell me people start making “pancakes” that don’t even have flour.

              The world has gone bananas! People are nuts!Report

        4. You are implying that there is something untoward with waffles? Why? They are pancakes with little butter and syrup pockets! You can even make them with blueberries if you don’t mind the possibility of having to give your waffle iron a good scrub afterward.

          Delicious little pockets!Report

          1. *sigh* fine, I’ll go there. Waffles are too much work. I can make pancakes blind hung-over on two hours of sleep while pretending to listen to my mother chatter on the phone and grunting wittily at appropriate intervals. Waffles require more than that.Report

              1. And they’re unitaskers. Back before he became just a celebrity, Alton Brown had a lot of things to say about unitaskers – and except for fire extinguishers, he rarely saw them positively.

                Note: I’m specifically excluding the possibility of a waffle iron where the plates flip over to become a panini press. That’s not a multitasker, it’s just silly because it doesn’t do either job properly.Report

              2. He also probably doesn’t eat the same thing every day. If you eat popcorn every day, buy a popcorn popper.

                I don’t eat toast a lot, so I don’t have a toaster (I consider that a unitasker, personally).Report

            2. My waffle iron is (because my wife has a strong Norwegian identity) one that makes the little heart shaped waffles. The best part of those is that they freeze really well, which means when my son has a hankering for pancakes/waffles, and I can’t muster up the will to make fresh ones, I can pull some out of the freezer, nuke ’em for 45 seconds, and give him his fix.Report

              1. Sure and microwaved heart shaped waffles will suffice for a little man like that but a late 30’s hung over homo requires more than a microwaved waffle to get moving in the morning (unlike his husband who’s bouncing around after two slices of bacon and a cup of coffee chattering about wanting to go for a walk*).

                *God(ess?) I hate him!**
                ** God(ess?) I love him!Report

              2. Last time he wanted them, the “little man” tucked away 20 of the damn things, plus strawberries. Kid can eat. If he wasn’t so damn tall and lean, I’d worry about him…Report

              3. Worry about him around 28 when his young metabolism says “Whelp, my work here is done, I’m off to Florida. My colleague Adult Metabolism will be taking it from here. Good luck.” Man oh man I miss the metabolism of a 20 year old. It just went in the mouth and vanished without a trace.Report

              4. No kidding, I had it nice & strong until the motorcycle wreck (when I was 20). The kind of trauma that puts you out like that does a number on that youthful metabolism as well.

                Sigh…Report

              6. My adult metabolism hit in when I achieved voting age. Since I stopped growing at fifteen I guess that my body decided I did not need a kid’s metabolism anymore.Report

            3. Right. Pancakes take 10 minutes to half an hour, tops, depending on how many you want. Waffles take me about two hours. (Granted, that’s my grandma’s waffle recipe that involves separating the eggs, beating the egg whites, and making a special waffle sauce. Once you’ve had it, it’s really the only way to have waffles – but it’s not often worthwhile when you’re making waffles for one person.)Report

  2. Pancakes! Pancakes!

    Dude, your new couple is WAY BEHIND. Crepes are the thing now.

    Damn reactionaries!Report

  3. Meh. Have you seen how many recipes there are for spicing up beans?
    Ooodles and oodles and oodles of them.

    A pot of good fresh plump beans is a treasure that doesn’t need spicing up — just a splash of oil and plenty of salt.

    Of course, good luck finding fresh beans up North, they’re a homegrown delicacy.Report

  4. If you go to Maine, blueberries are traditional, which just futher proves that New England is always First in Liberalism.

    I’m not too upset over pancakes. Mess with my biscuits and someone is going to get hurt.Report

        1. Pennsylvanian quality blueberries? You’d have better luck convincing me that the gnomes of Zurich consult with you on national matters.Report

          1. I said West Virginia and I meant West Virginia.
            You check out the Dolly Sods and tell me they don’t remind you of Nova Scotia.

            We also have a fine microclimate near Erie which makes awesome blueberries.Report

              6. Red mulberries, picked straight off the native tree. My folks had two trees at the back of the property. Too sweet to do much with by themselves, but great mixed with things that might otherwise be too tart. My mom swapped some of them with the woman up the street for cherries. Half mulberries, half cherries, no added sugar — outstanding pies.Report

              8. You, sir, are obviously delusional, misinformed, or a troll.

                Good huckleberries, picked from the slopes of mountains such as Rainier, St Helen’s (god bless her), and Adams are unequaled in the berry world, particularly those growing near the openings of lava tubes, which bring in the cold air from the higher slopes.

                Ah, the rich purple, nearing black, so ripe you could loose your soul starting into the depths of those luscious berries.Report

    4. Not biscuits, per se, but a close cousin. My wife’s favorite birthday treat is strawberry shortcake, with the shortcake being sweetened biscuits (instead of the sponge cake they sell in the store), the whip cream made fresh, and the strawberries mixed with rhubarb and cooked down a bit on the stovetop.

      Much easier to make than a birthday cake.Report

        1. It’s a hint of sweet, like a teaspoon of sugar for a whole batch. The berry mix & whipped cream do most of the sweet (and even the whipped cream is only lightly sweetened, the berries release so much sugar as they cook down…)Report

      2. My wife’s favorite birthday treat is strawberry shortcake, with the shortcake being sweetened biscuits (instead of the sponge cake they sell in the store), the whip cream made fresh, and the strawberries mixed with rhubarb and cooked down a bit on the stovetop.

        That sounds great, but it doesn’t technically sound like strawberry shortcake. It sounds like strawberry-rhubarb shortcake.

        Also, while it’s fine to cook down some strawberries for strawberry shortcake topping (In fact, you should!), you also need to include some fresh pieces of strawberry on it. OR ELSE.Report

    2. Antithesis 1: We know. We’re teasing.

      Antithesis 2: what kind of self-righteous ignorant prig doesn’t know about the long history of fruit in breakfast cakes? Why, back in the early 1700s American housewives were writing about ….. 😉

      My waistline mandates that homemade pancakes are very rare, but in addition to blueberries I’ve been known to add a little bit of jalapeño.Report

      1. The only reason blueberries ain’t traditional is that we had sugar. Older recipes than pancakes have raisins as a sweetener (which is why I tend to loathe them in desserts. If you’re using sugar, leave the raisins out)Report

      2. I am laughing pretty hard at these comments, I won’t lie… especially the debates!

        I will say, though, my anecdote was pretty objective. Pancakes are being assaulted. Specifically when someone asks for a pancake it is sometimes assumed that something should be in it. That’s my problem. The assumption of liberals. Makes my self-righteousness ignorance fume! 😉Report

        1. Typical conservative, standing in the way of a happy marriage between pancakes and chocolate chips. Claiming its tradition, when it’s clear he’s just being breakfastist.Report

        2. Well yeah, if you advertise a pancake, you produce a simple pancake. If you want to liven it up with additions, you need to make that clear to the diner that you are offering adulterated pancakes.Report

          1. This. Warn people about blueberries or chocolate chips in the pancakes you’re serving, bacon or jalapenos in the cornbread, or candied ginger in the angel food cake. Not that it’s not yummy, but you need to set expectations.Report

              4. Mostly contra, but that’s because cornbread’s supposed to be a side to something kicked up a notch. Making it not be plain is like “sprucing up” bread — it’s something that bored people do.

                I like cornbread — so why mess with a good thing? (This is also to say that if it’s subtle, then I won’t mind at all).Report

    2. Loosen your grip on those pearls, dear lady. My lovely wife makes brownies with jalapeños and chipotle. (Chipotle being, of course, smoked jalapeños.) I can barely eat a standard brownie now, because I crave the warmth of the capsaicin admixed with the chocolate.Report

      2. Vosges makes a really delicious dark chocolate and chipotle candy bar. Expensive and hard to find, yes. I particularly like how a little goes a long way – I don’t have to eat a whole bar as a square or two does the trick for me.Report

            1. @rtod

              RTod:
              There is no way you eat pancakes with chocolate. Dude, isn’t your entire diet lean meat veggies and protein powder?

              Ha! Well, I was running something resembling a Paleo diet for a while, but once I found myself getting more and more into old school bodybuilding workouts, my diet had to change alongside it. Doing hypertrophy workouts in a glycogen-depleted state sucks, even in a caffeinated state.

              On training days, my macros are approximately 35% protein, 45% carbs and 20% fat. Most of them I consume between dinner and post workout (I work out at night). My food choices most of the time – small amount of fruit, a small sweet potato and oatmeal, which I have with dinner, pre and post workout meals.

              As far as my liking chocolate chip pancakes, my son likes them so I make them, and if he has any leftover, I’m not shy about taking a small bite or two. I don’t eat them as a regular meal.

              That said, don’t think I haven’t thought about substituting one of my oatmeal meals for some uncooked pancake batter. I don’t think it would be as filling and I don’t care for the added sugars.

              @oscar-gordon

              I’ll not be intimidated by your musculature! You are obviously 12!

              To be fair, considering that I’m 5’5″, I have to admit that there are 12 year olds taller than I am. I can’t say I like it either!!!Report

              2. Low intensity steady state cardio is manageable. It may be one of the few things that can be done reasonably well in that state without hitting a wall.

                I experimented with a protein sparing modified fast last year, and other than low volume maintenance lifting, walking on a stairmaster or inclined treadmill walking was one of the few things that didn’t make me feel like crap and burned a fair amount of calories.

                Disclaimer: I don’t recommend anyone try what I tried.Report

          2. I’ll not be intimidated by your musculature! You are obviously 12!

            (Besides, you are the way the hell over in New Jersey…)Report

  8. EVERYONE BOW DOWN TO MY FIAT.

    French Toast Panettone.

    It rocks. Plain and simple. (mixing a little almond extract with the egg wash makes it ever more rockin’.)Report

    1. If you’re insisting on respect for a car company whose name is an acronym for Feeble Italian Attempt at Transportation ..

      I want respect for my Fix Or Repair Daily Mustang (convertible, of course. I live in LA County).Report

  9. I am OK with blueberries, but I am willing to forge a coalition with the anti-blueberry ranks if they will join me in my efforts to stamp out the scourge of beets from our society.Report

        1. *blink* lettuce doesn’t survive well? Where the Hel are you?
          Have you tried “spring mix”? (that’s chard and rocket and a couple of other good greens, not actual lettuce at all)Report

      1. The best way to cook beets: Boil pasta, and then drain off the water into a pot. Cook the beets in the used water. Throw the water and beets away, eat the pasta.

        Another recipe: Take the beet juice and use it to draw on the boxes of microwave dinners. Then take the dinners out of the box, microwave them according to instructions, and eat them.

        An old folk recipe, requires some good aim: Take some uncooked beets and a sling into the woods. Use the beets to hunt a wild turkey. Eat the turkey.Report

    3. Beets are awesome. Roast them up until they are soft, peel the skin off, eat them plain. Red, candy striped, or gold, don’t care, love them all.

      Also good pickled, or in a salad with gorgonzola.Report

        1. An agent provocateur enters our ranks, trying to split the unified pro-beet alliance!

          We must adhere to a strict all-of-the-above policy when it comes to supporting beets! Roast, baby, roast!Report

    4. I am OK with blueberries, but I am willing to forge a coalition with the anti-blueberry ranks if they will join me in my efforts to stamp out the scourge of beets from our society.

      This.

      I keep telling people, when I see them purchasing beets, that their heart is in the right place of getting that off the store shelves so others will not accidentally think it is food and serve it to people, but that is simply not how the market works. If people would simply *stop buying* beets, that poison would eventually be removed from store shelves. (Well, or the FDA will eventually get off their asses and sue the beet producers for the various lies they tell the public, such as beets being ‘edible’.)

      And a lot of the time, when people buy beets to dispose of, the beets accidentally end up in the pantries anyway, where they can be accidentally given to people as if they are food. I help by throwing them them out whenever I see them, but there is only so much I can do.Report

  10. I suppose I can put my pancake radicalism aside and get on board with this.

    I was at the gym the other day, and my friend was drinking a Beet-infused pre-workout. It’s natural so it’s cool. It’s what cavemen drank before they would fist-fight woolly mammoths.Report

    1. @adrian-rutt

      I was at the gym the other day, and my friend was drinking a Beet-infused pre-workout.

      In other words, your friend killed his/her gains before he/she even started.Report

      1. Indeed, that is what I told him.

        Just had to make sure we were talking about the same kinds of gains…as opposed to GAINZ!Report

        1. @adrian-rutt

          Just had to make sure we were talking about the same kinds of gains…as opposed to GAINZ!

          No Gainz! I want to see those people on YouTube in gym fail videos. They deserve it.

          Beet infused…better take an aromatase inhibitor with that. 😉Report

    2. When I first read this I completely missed the word “fight.” And i thought, “well that’s a pretty freaky thing to do with a wooly mammoth, but to each his own I guess.”Report

  11. As I’ve written before, pancakes suck. But the very sucky IHOP chain has been selling a variety of pancakes for at least two decades.

    More importantly, food experimentation is a wonderful thing and should be embraced. It will undoubtedly yield failed outcomes, but the process is the only reason we aren’t still eating rocks (fact… look it up).Report

  13. Just so ya know, Jan 28 is National Blueberry Day.

    Blueberries resisted domestication. The first commercially grown blueberries were sold in NJ in 1916, exactly 100 years ago!!!!! and “blueberry fever” swept the region. I’m guessing people in the NE were putting blueberries in pretty much everything, pretty much right away.

    So does 100 years represent a recent challenge to tradition, or tradition itself. Perhaps that’s how we should define liberalism/conservatism.Report

  14. This whole post is misguided. And UnAmerican. The pan cake – so-called in honor of the long-honored Greek god of blueberries and chocolate chips, much loved by real Americans – has been associated with flighty experimentation in US artesinal food stuffs throughout history. Lincoln’s wife Mary was famous for purchasing expensive Illinoisian berries (expensive because they were illegally imported from the South) for inclusion in Abe’s cakes during meetings with foreign dignitaries, including those from faraway places like the Confederacy. Jefferson’s notes reveal a cotton-based pan cake recipe which included fibers from naturally grown non-GMO “hemp” sprinkled with hand-picked mushrooms fried in butter. The historical record mentions this dish being served only once at an official function tho TJ’s head chef claims the meal was served daily as a form of both mental and physical sustenance. Andrew Carnegie is purported to have created an iron-ore-based pan cake served with yogurt and strawberries which John Rockefeller purchased for $432 million dollars. The list goes on and on.Report

  15. A great deal of this discussion reminds me (pleasantly) of Rex Stout’s Too Many Cooks and Nero Wolfe’s lecture “Contributions Américaines à la Haute Cuisine”, asserting the subtle superiority of American poultry that has been regularly fed fresh blueberries over anything available in Europe.Report

  16. I don’t really know what this post is about it, but it should most definitely be called “Food Progressivism…”Report

  18. Great writing style and tone, very enticing!

    I think you are right, society is changing. Everyone should have popcorn for breakfast, for goodness sake! Or, something of the sort.

    Ha, jokes.

    Keep up the great work, you are truly a great writer,
    NatashaReport

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