When it comes to breakfast, one of my favorite meals is pancakes. No matter how many times I eat them, they never get old! But they are, in fact, very old - people have been making pancakes for tens of thousands of years!
The earliest known pancake is 70,000 years old
The earliest known evidence of pancake-making was found in 2022 by researchers excavating the Shanidar Cave complex in Iraq. Whoever cleaned up after dinner there one night left behind the charred remains of a pancake! This pancake was made of local seeds that were soaked in water before being mashed into a patty and cooked. Yum?
Cattails and ferns were the original pancake flours
By the Stone Age (about 40,000 years ago), people were crushing cattails and ferns into a flour, which they then combined with water and baked on a hot rock. Compared to other food options available at the time, this was delicious!
A Greek physician recorded the first pancake recipe
In the late 100s A.D., Greek physician Galen included a pancake recipe in his book On the Properties of Foodstuffs. His preparation was similar to how Russian blinis and Canadian griddlecakes are made today. He wrote, “[olive oil] is placed in a frying pan that is put on a smokeless fire, and when [the pan] has become hot, the wheaten flour, soaked in a large amount of water, is poured into it.” Galen noted that these pancakes were often enjoyed with honey (maple trees aren’t native to Greece, so maple syrup wasn’t available).
Pancakes once saved a city from starving
When Prussia besieged Paris in 1870, bread grew scarce and many Parisians turned to crepes, a version of pancakes that are thinner and less fluffy due to their lack baking powder or baking soda. This crepe solution seemed to be working until 1871, when the continued siege caused Paris’s flour supply to run out. Without flour to make crepes, people worried they would starve! 😧 Fortunately, pancakes’ versatility came to the rescue when people realized they could use rice, which was still plentiful and inexpensive, as a flour substitute when making crepes. Crisis averted!
Almost every culture has its own version of a pancake
In North India, a pancake prepared with chickpea-based flour and called chilla is often served at weddings.
In Jewish households everywhere, potato-based pancakes called latkes are eaten each year to commemorate Hanukkah.
In Ethiopia, Eritrea, and some parts of Somalia, a fermented pancake-y flatbread made of teff flour and known as injera is served at family gatherings, with two or three people eating from the same plate.
Other global variations include Korean buchimgae, Chinese jianbing, Venezuelan cachavas, and Moroccan m’semen - just to name a few!
From the Stone Age to modern day, there’s no denying that everybody loves pancakes. Although I’m not sure if I’d be willing to try one made from cattails! If you’re hungry for more breakfast history, check out this article about waffles. The real question is which is better: pancakes or waffles? Click the blue button below to vote! 👓