Pancakes Made the French Way

Historically, pancakes were eaten by Christians as a means of using up stored food stuffs prior to the festival of lent; a period of forty days throughout which all Christians were expected to fast, pray and repent their sins, in tribute of the forty days and nights that Christ spent fasting in the wilderness. Shrovetide, as this day was called, taken from the word ‘shrive’ meaning to confess sins, is still celebrated today by many people including those not of Christian faith and falls every year in the months of either February or March.

However, in modern times, gone are the days when the humble pancake only appeared on the menu’s of the general masses once a year for Shrove Tuesday, when a squirt of lemon, bucketful of sugar and the traditional ‘tossing’ mishap was eagerly awaited by all.

Nowadays, pancakes are seen as a wonderfully quick, easy and relatively inexpensive fast food, helped much by the introduction of French style crêperies on the High Street, at festivals and outdoor events etc.

In France, the crêpe is considered a national dish, served with a diverse array of fillings from sweet to savoury, such as lemon and sugar, chocolate sauce and fruit fillings, ham, cheese, mushrooms, ratatouille and various meats,

The crêpe batter is made from flour, milk and egg, is slightly less thick than that of the British pancake and, instead of using a frying pan, batter is poured onto a hot circular plate where it is spread to an even thickness and cooked before adding the desired fillings. Choices of what to fill your pancake with can often be seen displayed using a quality counter-top leaflet holders, from which the customer can best agonise over which delicious ingredient to go for.