That most certainly is what you do in France. Or actually, true, you don’t usually slather them in butter — you put the butter in the batter.

British prefer meat and eggs; French eat pastries. Germans and similar cultures make these big “dutch baby” things that sometimes get called pancakes but are really mainly egg. Japanese eat rice and egg and fish (and French pastries, in modern times).

On the other hand, you see pancake-like foods all over the Americas. Native American frybread, flatbread, tortillas, sopapillas (or are those Spanish rather than Mexican?)….

I was really surprised to realize this. I mean, pancakes are simple and good. What’s not to like? You’re all eating our hamburgers, what’s so weird about pancakes?

My only explanation is that it’s campfire cuisine, and maybe in lands without vast maple groves it just wasn’t worth the effort.

My beau (and resident cook) is fond of cornmeal pancakes. You can get a decent corn pancake mix (Bob’s Red Mill) in the organic aisle of the Iggle.

I have heard that over-mixing is a major cause of gumminess. Also, dry and flavorless pancakes (though they should not be) can be overcome with liberal application of butter and honey.

For the flour, I tend to use half buckwheat and half whole white wheat, which gives a hardier taste (whole red wheat, the usual “whole wheat” you might buy, doesn’t get the texture right — too gritty). Buckwheat flour in Pittsburgh comes from the bulk bins at the co-op. At Whole Foods they seem to think that buckwheat flour is as rare and magical as gogi berries, and geagle, last I checked, had never heard of the concept.

Perhaps you feel like submitting a recipe to cookingforengineers d0t com sometime

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