Pancake
There are two different foods called pancakes. In the United Kingdom, a pancake is a very thin batter cake fried in a frying pan. In the United States, pancakes are a raised batter cake fried on a griddle or flat-bottomed pan. In general, pancakes are any batter cake fried in oil or butter, and can be eaten both hot and cold. Their origins extend to antiquity, and they have been featured in cookbooks since at least 1439.
British pancakes have three key ingredients: plain flour, eggs and milk. The batter is quite runny and forms a thin layer on the bottom of the frying pan when the pan is tilted. It may form some bubbles during cooking, which result in a pale pancake with dark spots where the bubbles were, but the pancake does not rise. These pancakes may be eaten sweet with the traditional topping of lemon juice and sugar, or wrapped around savoury stuffings and eaten as a main course. When baked instead of fried, this batter rises (depite having no raising agents – it rises because the air beaten into the batter expands) and is known as Yorkshire pudding. British pancakes are similar to crepes, but are not "lacy" in appearance.
American pancakes contain a raising agent, usually baking soda, and different proportions of eggs, flour and milk which create a thick batter. This batter is either spooned or poured onto a hot surface, and spreads to form a cake about 1/4 or 1/3 inch (1cm) thick. The raising agent causes bubbles to rise to the uncooked side of the pancake, at which point they are ready to be flipped. The resulting pancakes are very light in texture, similar to what the British call drop scones or Scotch pancakes. They are often served at breakfast topped with maple syrup and butter. In the US, pancakes can also be referred to as hotcakes, griddlecakes, and flap jacks.
Pancakes are cooked one side at a time, being flipped by the cook halfway through. The process of tossing or flipping them is, to many people, part of the essence of the pancake, and one of the skills that separates the experienced cook from the beginner.
American pancakes can be made sweet or savory by adding foods like raisins, cheese or bacon to the batter. British pancakes can be stuffed after cooking with a wide variety of sweet or savoury fillings. Both are often sweetened after cooking by pouring on syrup or sprinkling with powdered sugar.
In the United States, the pancake is usually a breakfast food, but it is so popular that a franchised restaurant called International House of Pancakes, commonly called IHOP, has more than 1,000 restaurants.
In Great Britain, pancakes are eaten as a dessert, or served savoury with a main meal. They are also traditionally eaten on Shrove Tuesday which is also known as "Pancake Day". According to tradition, this was in order to use up the last of the fat and rich foods before Lent. Charity or school events are often organised on Pancake Day. One popular event is a foot race in which each participant carries a pancake on a frying pan. They have to keep tossing their pancakes in the air (and catching them again!) as they run.
Every Shrove Tuesday, the towns of Olney, England and Liberal, Kansas have a pancake flipping competition. The two towns' competitors race along an agreed-upon course, and the times of all of the two towns' competitors are compared, to deterimine a winner.
In the Netherlands pancakes are eaten at dinner. Pancake restaurants are popular family restaurants and serve many varieties of sweet, savoury, and stuffed pancakes.