National Pancake Day on September 26th sets up a tall stack of syrupy goodness to celebrate! Set the table. Mix up the batter. Heat up the griddle. Because the butter is ready to melt and the flapjacks are delicious!
Also known as Johnnycakes, griddle cakes or hotcakes, this batter-made breakfast item dates back more than 30,000 years. In fact, it may be the oldest breakfast food in history.- It became a traditional part of Fat Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday) celebrations when revelers would feast before fasting. They still do! The thin cakes can be rolled and filled with fruit and other fillings. Usually, though, they’re stacked and drizzled with flavored syrup.
- Pancakes have a long history, dated back to the times of Ancient Romans and it was believed in Medieval times that the first three pancakes cooked were sacred. They were each marked with a cross before being sprinkled with salt and then set aside to ward off evil.
- The Ancient Greeks made pancakes called τηγανίτης (tēganitēs), ταγηνίτης (tagēnitēs) all words deriving from τάγηνον (tagēnon), “frying pan”.
- Maple syrup which is often used as a topping, was originally a sweet drink which was discovered by the Algonquin Indians.
- The first ready-mix food which was sold commercially was Aunt Jemima pancake flour. It was invented in 1889 in St. Joseph, Missouri.
- It is common in France to touch the handle of the frying pan and to make a wish while the pancake is turned, holding a coin in one hand.
- The first pancake recipe appeared in an English cookbook in the fifteenth century.
- William Shakespeare liked pancakes, often mentioning them in his plays.
- According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “flat as a pancake”, has been a catchphrase since at least 1611.
- The highest pancake toss ever measured was 9.47 meters, or 31 feet 1 inch. It was done by Dominic Cuzzacrea at the Walden Galleria Mall in Cheektowaga, New York, United States, on November 13, 2010.
- The most flips that anyone has done with a pancake was 349 flips i two minutes, which was done by Dean Gould at Felixstowe, Suffolk in 1995.
- The most people tossing pancakes was 890 and it was achieved at an event organized by the University of Sheffield in Sheffield, United Kingdom, in 2012.
- The Guinness World Record for the most pancakes served in 8 hours by a team is 34,818.
- The most pancakes made in 1 hour by an individual is 1,092. It was done by Ross McCurdy from Kingston, Washington, United States, on August 13, 2013.
- In the United States, southerners eat the most pancakes, accounting for 32.5% of the pancake consumption.
- In Sweden, you can order Blodplattar, which are pancakes made out of pork blood.
- Pancakes outnumber the waffle five to one.
- Pancake average calories: 80 calories without a topping.
- Britain will eat an egg-straordinary 52 million eggs on Pancake Day.
- 75% of people don’t know that ingredients needed for the basic pancake mix!
- One in ten people over 55 have never made a pancake!
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