Pancake heaven

Feb 5 2010 by Sadie Parker of the National Trust

MY favourite pancake filling of all time has to be Marmite and cheese. Most people screw their faces up at the mere mention of the concoction, and you can hear the disgust in their voices as they query “Marmite? On pancakes?”

This fortnight’s in season column deviates a little as pancakes aren’t really something that are particularly in season. However, every Shrove Tuesday – this year it’s February 16 – we tuck into many thousands of them in a tradition that dates back centuries.

The pancake tradition was started by Christians who observed the fasting period of Lent. The idea being that they ate up all of the rich foods they had in their pantry before Lent, including eggs, butter and sugar.

Now, I’m sure, we just eat pancakes for the sake of eating them but I’m not complaining and I’m sure you aren’t either.

Most people I’ve asked like the traditional fillings such as lemon and sugar or lemon and golden syrup (which must be spread evenly before squeezing on the lemon juice according to our office expert on all things sweet). There are a few adventurous folk who like maple syrup or a sprinkling of cinnamon but nobody I asked mentioned a savoury filling.

Savoury and sweet pancakes, or crêpes, are very popular in France.

The French versions are a little thinner than our traditional pancakes but are equally tasty. The nicest ones I tried were cheese and spinach, followed by banana, chocolate sauce, ice cream and cream – delicious! Spinach should be coming into season soon, so you could try this fortnight’s recipe with spinach instead of celery (see recipe below).

In support of our local economy and local producers, you could try your pancakes this year using ingredients from around the region – eggs from your local free-range egg supplier (there are lots around), flour from Heatherslaw Bakery and milk from a North East dairy farm. Your local farm shop should be able to supply these ingredients.

So, for the best pancakes, try Gibside’s simple recipe using North East produce with a Northumberland cheese and celery filling. The recipe is simple to follow and all the family can get involved.

Food fact of the fortnight

The world’s biggest pancake was Scooked in Rochdale in 1994. It measured 15m in diameter, weighed three tonnes and contained an estimated two million calories.