Pancakes and crepes

Pancakes and crepes – a flour dish, made of liquid dough, baked in a hot frying pan; usually round in shape. Pancakes may have been the first dish that began to be prepared with flour. Recipes for pancakes are found in almost all nations: Russian pancakes, French pancakes (crêpes), palachinkas, English pancakes, Indian dosa, Ethiopian injera, and others.

Dough for pancakes, yeast-free or yeast-free, is prepared on the basis of flour: wheat, buckwheat, oatmeal, rice. Unleavened (unleavened) pancakes are the easiest and fastest. Unleavened pancakes are made with milk, water, kefir, sour milk, yogurt, ryazhenka, weak alcohol – mead, beer. Classic yeast pancakes (especially buckwheat pancakes) are made on sourdough.

It is believed that the traditional Russian pancakes have always been made exactly by the ovary method (from yeast dough). The use of baking soda in the preparation of dough for pancakes borrowed in the West relatively recently and is not typical of Russian cuisine.

Blini are one of the most ancient dishes of Russian cuisine. Since ancient times, the Slavs considered pancakes a symbol of the Sun and fertility. Russian pancakes are special – soft, fluffy and at the same time porous. They are well absorbed by butter, sour cream, jam, making them juicier and more delicious. In the 19th century, pancakes became a traditional Shrovetide dish.

Despite the apparent simplicity and unpretentiousness of the dish, cooking pancakes requires a certain skill and dexterity, otherwise the first pancake is always a mess. You need to know two simple rules for the pancakes not to stick to the pan and turn well. First, vegetable oil should be added to the batter, and secondly, the pancakes should be fried on a hot and well heated pan. It is better to bake the pancakes in vegetable oil or unsalted lard.

There are several ways of serving the dish. The most common – with various appetizers. A variety of fillings are wrapped in thin crepes.

There are also recipes for pancakes with baked – “baked” – any filling. Chopped boiled eggs, chopped mushrooms, vegetables or fruits are used as a filling.

Thin pre-baked pancakes are also used for making pies. The filling for the pies can be meat or fish mince, or sweet homemade confit. In the past, pancakes were also used as a layer between different layers of filling in the traditional Russian pie kurnik.