Pancake Day!

Never really heard of this holiday, per se, and I was raised Catholic, so you'd think the last day before Lent would hold some significance.

By way of non-coincidence, I did know that people consume pancakes on this day - at least in my hometown. I never connected it to the beginning of Lent, however.

Lockport, NY is the birthplace of a man named Mike Cuzzacrea, the longtime Guinness World Record holder for marathon pancake-flipping. He's been featured numerous times on Food Network and everything. Well, each year, around this time (this morning, to be specific) he hosts a gigantic pancake breakfast for the residents of Lockport. Mike himself makes all the pancakes, typically over 10,000 of them, and each plate sells for $3 (or so) and goes to fund local charities. This year, he partnered with my friend, Jay Wulf, who is co-owner of an independent company called "Lake Effect Ice Cream" and Jay sold bowls of banana pancake-flavored ice cream as desserts.

Me, I don't typically make pancakes, as it can get a tad messy at times and I'm still forced to share kitchen space with a stepmother who is prone to casting long and irate tirades whenever I so much as leave a grease spot while cooking. Pancakes are just inviting an inquisition.
I do enjoy them, periodically. Not as much as I like waffles but pancakes are an acceptable side when visiting Denny's or something. My pancake needs aren't fancy. I'm content with blueberry, or maybe just some fruit on the top.

Never had a pakczi, which is mildly surprising given Buffalo's prominent Polish population. I think I've seen them at the Broadway Market (which will become a fucking AWESOME place as of tomorrow once all the vendors settle in for Lent) but never bought any. I'd really like to make one last stop in there this year before moving out of state, so if I see any pakczi, I'll try a couple. Got a funny feeling they make blackberry ones, and that sounds particularly good. Honestly, it just looks like a filled, glazed donut to me, but that's not really a bad thing.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

No, fried dough is dough ... that's been fried.

A funnel cake is made with batter. And as any cook will tell you, batter and dough are reasonably different. One is a malleable solid, the other is a thick liquid.

The funnel cake gets its name because it's delivered into the hot oil, typically, through a funnel-like device with a valve and trigger system for regulating the flow. The batter pours out in thin streams while the cook keeps the batter confined within a small area. Because batter has such a high concentration of water, it boils off rapidly and the outermost starches solidify within seconds, allowing the cake to retain its shape.

And funnel cakes are most excellent. They taste as fried dough does but are lighter in texture and not quite as chewy, though just about equally greasy.


And Shin: While "drop scone" is a legitimate term - I've heard of it - it's also a completely stupid term. Mostly because it's kind of a bastardization of scones in general. Scone dough is completely different than anything used for pancake-type foods. A pancake is nothing like a scone; the implied cousin status isn't even based on anything sensible. A croissant is a closer relative to a scone than a pancake is.

I say this only because scones are awesome and I feel compelled to defend their honor.

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