As I´m making pancakes for dinner I think about how this is one of the easy dishes that has followed us around the world. No matter where we have lived there has always been milk, flour and eggs for pancakes. We almost always make the thin ones. Sometimes a thick version in the oven, and occasionally American with baking powder. You say the word and everyone has their own perception of the dish in their mind. In Switzerland I remember inviting an American family over for an afternoon playdate. I made pancakes. Oh, the disappointment in the eyes of the visiting boys as we sat down to eat. Their mother tried desperately to explain how exciting it would be to try Swedish pancakes. But no. It just wasn´t their kind of pancake. To them the relocation to Europe was probably enough at the time. “Leave our pancakes alone!” #TCK
Do you know we use pancake in some Swedish idiomatic expressions ? Literal translations follows.
Upp som en sol ner som en pannkaka – Up like a sun down like a pancake
Himmel och pannkaka – Heaven and pancake
Det blir bara pannkaka av alltihop – It will all just be pancake
Marsch pannkaka! – Off you go, pancake!
In Dutch we call someone a pancake when one does something silly. It’s like a sweet swear word. And Pancake (Pannekoek) is also a Dutch surname.
When I lived in the Netherlands I learnt to eat pancakes and drink hot chocolate at Sinterklaas (when exchanging the December gifts). However that is not a tradition I have kept! Maybe I should implement it though, as a morning meal on Christmas Eve – that would be nice!!
So calling someone pannekoek is rather affectionate? Just to make sure; not to make mistakes 🙂
Yes, it is a bit affectionate to say that. But you only say it when someone says or does something wrong.
Ok, thanks!