Who created pancakes?!?
Pancakes are an ancient food; cooking on a griddle or other flat, hot surface is a far older technique than oven cooking. There are recipes for pancakes, in fact, that appear as far back as the height of the Roman Empire, in the culinary compendium “Apicius.” In it, cooks found a version with honey and pepper. Flour, eggs, milk—such simple ingredients were also mixed, fried, and flipped to create a traditional Shrove Tuesday treat, before the Lenten fast. What truly defines a pancake, though, is a bit hazy. (Why is it the socca, made from chickpea flour and olive oil, seems clearly to be a kind of pancake, while the corn tortilla, made from masa and water, seems to be more of a flatbread?) Common pancake characteristics include a crisp exterior and soft, airy interior. They’re made from thinner batter than actual cakes, and a little hot grease sets the outer surface quickly; this allows the inside to remain fluffy and light. And they’re usually unleavened, so they don’t rise like bread
