fannie farmer pancakes
I was given a reproduction of the 1896 Fanny Farmer cookbook. Some of it is quite amusing, even quaint. Here’s how you start up your stove (page 20):
HOW TO BUILD A FIRE
Before starting to build a fire, free the grate from ashes. To do this, put on covers, close front and back dampers, and open oven damper; turn grate, and ashes will fall into the ash receiver. If these rules are not followed, ashes will fly over the room. Turn grate back into place, remove covers from fire-box, and cover grate with pieces of paper (twisted in centre and left loose at the ends), Cover paper with small sticks, or pieces of pine wood, being sure that the wood reaches the ends of the fire-box, and so arrange that it will admit air. …
It goes on for another page and a half! All that and we still have no fire yet. The stove is still cold! No gas or electric.
Of course this was the text book for the Boston Cooking-School so in some areas they assumed you knew nothing. On the other hand, here is a quote that assumes we know nothing, but also give good energy saving advice, albeit assuming a wood stove. (page 21)
WAYS OF COOKING
Boiling is cooking in boiling water. Solid food so cooked is called boiled food, though literally this expression is incorrect. Examples: Boiled eggs, potatoes, mutton, etc.
Water boils at 212° F. (sea level), and simmers at 185° F. Slowly boiling water has the same temperature as rapidly boiling water, consequently is able to do the same work, — a fact often forgotten by the cook, who is apt “to wood” the fire that water may boil vigorously.
In some places, they assumed we had common knowledge from the time, but some things have become forgotten. Here are three recipes from the Original Fanny Farmer 1896 Cook Book for what Mrs. Farmer called Griddle-Cakes and we call pancakes.
Sour Milk Griddle-Cakes
INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sour milk (as if I have this sitting around)
1 1/4 teaspoon soda (that is baking soda, not Sprite)
1 egg
Notice here the use of baking soda and the next two use baking powder. Why? Baking powder is baking soda (typically) mixed with some kind of acid, perhaps vinegar, and an inert starch like corn starch. The acid you would normally get from the baking powder here comes from the sour milk. Also, since we generally don’t keep sour milk around, here’s what Wikipedia tells us about sour milk:
Before pasteurized milk became widely available, sour milk may have been unpasteurized milk that had naturally acquired a sour taste through bacterial fermentation at room temperature. At least until the 1920s, there was a clear distinction between sour milk and buttermilk, where buttermilk was the sour tasting thin liquid leftover from making butter.
Today, in North America, either cultured buttermilk, also commonly known as buttermilk but not the same product as the aforementioned buttermilk, or milk soured by the addition of lemon juice or vinegar is often used when sour milk is needed in a recipe.
In recipes, soured milk created by the addition of an acid or by bacterial fermentation can often be used interchangeably. For example, 1 cup of cultured buttermilk, a soured milk produced by bacterial fermentation, can be substituted with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar plus enough milk to make 1 cup. The chemically soured milk can be used after standing for 5 minutes.
DIRECTIONS
Mix and sift flour, salt, and soda; add sour milk and egg well beaten. Drop by spoonfuls on a greased hot griddle; cook on one side. When puffed, full of bubbles, and cooked on the edges, turn and cook on other side. Serve with butter and maple syrup.
Sweet Milk Griddle-Cakes
INGREDIENTS
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons melted butter
DIRECTIONS
Mix and sift dry ingredients; beat eggs, add milk, and pour slowly in first mixture. Beat thoroughly, and add butter. Cook as Sour Milk Griddle-Cakes.
Entire Wheat Griddle-Cakes
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup entire wheat flour (today we call this whole wheat)
1 cup flour
3 teaspoons baking powder (isn’t that 1 tablespoon?)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tablespoons melted butter
DIRECTIONS
Prepare and cook as Sweet Milk Griddle-Cakes. (which of course refers back to Sour Milk Griddle-Cakes).
