Pancakes

[Jason Larsen]

On yesterday's episode of Countdown, we learned that Jeff likes pancakes, and he likes them syrupy sweet.

How do you like your pancakes?

P.S. If anyone can find a recipe for banana jam, please post it here!

[Ian Volante]

Lime juice and golden syrup.

[Joseph Bolas]

P.S. If anyone can find a recipe for banana jam, please post it here!

You can find a load of recipes if you Google Banana Jam

Also plain pancakes, to answer your question.

[Michael Wallace]

Also plain pancakes, to answer your question.

(maple syrup :d)

[Joseph Bolas]

Also plain pancakes, to answer your question.

(maple syrup :d)

To me they just tast nice by themselves, though to be fair, I've never actually tried maple syrup before, so it might taste better, I don't know.

EDIT: Also, I am not a fan of jam and I try to eat as little sugar as possible.

[Michael Wallace]

(maple syrup )

Why did you change my smiley?

[Joseph Bolas]

(maple syrup )

Why did you change my smiley?

I thought thats what it was meant to be (because it was a lower-case d). I've changed it back now

[Michael Wallace]

I thought thats what it was meant to be (because it was a lower-case d). I've changed it back now

Good man. For the record, is quite distinct to :d - the former is a very happy smiley, the latter is a 'mmm delicious' smiley (it demonstrates you licking your lips, you see).

[Jason Larsen]

Ian, you are a very interesting person!

Also, Rachel likes her banana jam Mauritian-style! I wonder if it tastes like coffee.

[Jon O'Neill]

I like mine with lots of sugar and some sort of fruit, maybe ice cream.

If you're in or around London, and you haven't been to My Old Dutch Pncake House in Holborn, you haven't lived. Seriously.

[Michael Wallace]

I like mine with lots of sugar and some sort of fruit, maybe ice cream.

If you're in or around London, and you haven't been to My Old Dutch Pncake House in Holborn, you haven't lived. Seriously.

Those had better be some insane pancakes for the prices they charge.

[Charlie Reams]

If you're in or around London, and you haven't been to My Old Dutch Pncake House in Holborn, you haven't lived. Seriously.

I had the spicy one there and they didn't bring me any water for like an hour and I was in considerable pain for most of that. That's the only time I've been there.

[Kirk Bevins]

Those had better be some insane pancakes for the prices they charge.

Those had batter be some insane pancakes for the prices they charge.

[Matt Morrison]

Those had better be some insane pancakes for the prices they charge.

Those had batter be some insane pancakes for the prices they charge.

I don't give a toss if they're flipping great pancakes at that price.

[Jason Larsen]

Good jokes, everyone!

Do they have IHOP in the UK?

[Michael Wallace]

Those had better be some insane pancakes for the prices they charge.

Those had batter be some insane pancakes for the prices they charge.

It took me *so* long to realise what you did there (I thought you'd just copied what I'd said...). Good work.

[Joseph Bolas]

Good man. For the record, is quite distinct to :d - the former is a very happy smiley, the latter is a 'mmm delicious' smiley (it demonstrates you licking your lips, you see).

I never knew that. I've always thought that it was a typo

[Phil Reynolds]

If you're in or around London, and you haven't been to My Old Dutch Pncake House in Holborn, you haven't lived. Seriously.

Wow - ate there several times in around 1979/80/81 with fellow students on our way back to Warwick Uni after days out at computer trade shows at Olympia. Had no idea it was still going. There was (is?) a great pub just opposite where we'd get bladdered, pile across the road for a meal at MOD (one savoury pancake, one sweet), then into the minibus and home around 1am clutching our goody bags from COMPEC. Happy days.

[Phil Reynolds]

Do they have IHOP in the UK?

No. I went to one once, in Key West. Very enjoyable as I recall, although of course what Americans call a pancake bears almost no resemblance to what British people eat on Pancake Day.

The American fast food chain that I most wish would open up over here has to be Fuddruckers. The idea of basically designing your own burger from scratch is immensely appealing. And of course the name gives scope for all sorts of mispronunciation-based japery.

[Matt Morrison]

The American fast food chain that I most wish would open up over here has to be Fuddruckers. The idea of basically designing your own burger from scratch is immensely appealing.

I have to tell you right now I can make the best vegeburgers in the world, in terms of construction of ingredients. If anyone wants a vegeburger-off, I'm game (not that type of game, though, obviously).
Fuddruckers - I've never understood those plastic-looking American burger buns (see website front page) - do they exist in real life or are they just used for advertising?

[Jason Larsen]

Phil, it's good to know you know IHOP exists because there are some in Florida!

[Phil Reynolds]

Phil, it's good to know you know IHOP exists because there are some in Florida!

I knew IHOP existed long before I ate at one, from references to them in American novels and plays.

[Jon O'Neill]

Those had better be some insane pancakes for the prices they charge.

Those had batter be some insane pancakes for the prices they charge.

They are, trust me. You can order one pancake and no matter how big you think is too big for a pancake, this will be bigger, and oh, so so so good. I usually cut mine in half to make two halves of a pancake.

[Jason Larsen]

Phil, no wonder you people in the UK have heard of IHOP!

Jon, with a name as good as your favorite pancake restaurant, you know it has to be good! But, for some reason when you go to any restaurant at all no matter what kind it is they always give you more than you want (Red Lobster, for example.)

[Jon O'Neill]

Phil, no wonder you people in the UK have heard of IHOP!

Jon, with a name as good as your favorite pancake restaurant, you know it has to be good! But, for some reason when you go to any restaurant at all no matter what kind it is they always give you more than you want (Red Lobster, for example.)

Certainly. That's probably so they can justify charging a higher price. The more food they sell, the more money they get. It doesn't matter whether you eat it all or not, you have to pay the full price!

Generally with seafood I cut my lobster in half, then eat my lobster and give my other lobster to a homeless person.

[Jason Larsen]

I bet the same is true for you and pancakes, Jon!

[Matt Morrison]

Generally with seafood I cut my lobster in half, then eat my lobster and give my other lobster to a homeless person.

Talking of the homeless, surely we could solve the balance a bit by cutting in half all of the successful affluent people? Although that would cause overcrowding.

[Michael Wallace]

Generally with seafood I cut my lobster in half, then eat my lobster and give my other lobster to a homeless person.

Talking of the homeless, surely we could solve the balance a bit by cutting in half all of the successful affluent people? Although that would cause overcrowding.

What, so you cut an affluent person in half and give one affluent person to a homeless person and let the other affluent person carry on living as they had before they were cut into two affluent people?

[Matt Morrison]

Generally with seafood I cut my lobster in half, then eat my lobster and give my other lobster to a homeless person.

Talking of the homeless, surely we could solve the balance a bit by cutting in half all of the successful affluent people? Although that would cause overcrowding.

What, so you cut an affluent person in half and give one affluent person to a homeless person and let the other affluent person carry on living as they had before they were cut into two affluent people?

To be honest, my plan was as shallow as a proper pancake pan (like the one my gran has).
I hadn't thought it through, and was just thinking it would make the country look richer if we had double the number of affluent people, I hadn't thought for a moment what we'd do with the extra collection of affluent people. Actually your idea of pairing them up with the homeless, like mascots to materialism, is fantastic. Then we wouldn't have to worry about finding homes for all the new affluent people. There'd be seminars on the streets.

[Daniel O'Dowd]

I eat mine with triple chocolate ice-cream, and bananas.

[Jason Larsen]

Wow, Daniel!

Interesting!

[Phil Reynolds]

I eat mine with triple chocolate ice-cream, and bananas.

Sorry, are we talking about homeless people, or pancakes? I'm confused.

[Matt Morrison]

I eat mine with triple chocolate ice-cream, and bananas.

Sorry, are we talking about homeless people, or pancakes? I'm confused.

Another interesting way to solve the homeless problem - genius!

[Karen Pearson]

Personal preferences are:
British/French pancakes (i.e. flat) - Lemon juice (fresh not Jif lemon) and sugar
American pancakes (i.e. fluffy) - Maple syrup

I'm a big fan of IHOP and actually had breakfast there on my birthday in Florida. I had pancakes with 'bananas and strawberry compote' but without the strawberry compote (!) because it's always too sweet. Could be improved by topping it with real cream rather than that awful 'whipped topping' (which just seems like sweetened shaving foam).

Thanks Jono for the tip about My Dutch. I shall now try to arrange lunches with clients in London at them (so that I can claim it on expenses).

[Lucy Gowers]

There was (is?) a great pub just opposite where we'd get bladdered.

The Princess Louise. Still there but since it was refurbished a couple of years ago, it appears to be frequented mainly by tourists and seems to have lost its character. I've got lots of great memories of nights in there (and My Old Dutch) from when I was at law school.

[Phil Reynolds]

There was (is?) a great pub just opposite where we'd get bladdered.

The Princess Louise.

YES! Ah, thanks for that Lucy. Brings back many happy memories, although it's sad to hear it's gone down the dreaded "refurbishment" route.

[Phil Reynolds]

Personal preferences are:
British/French pancakes (i.e. flat) - Lemon juice (fresh not Jif lemon) and sugar
American pancakes (i.e. fluffy) - Maple syrup

I was going to say something exactly along those lines. I love maple syrup (although the real stuff is quite expensive), but it's a bit overpowering for a thin, delicate pancake. A drizzle of fresh lemon juice and a sprinkling of caster sugar is altogether more appropriate. However, with those thick, carbohydrate-laden American pancakes, maple syrup and a little pot of that whipped butter stuff (rather than cream or ice cream) does the job at breakfast time, although the thought of having lunch later will probably turn your stomach.

I'm a big fan of IHOP and actually had breakfast there on my birthday in Florida. I had pancakes with 'bananas and strawberry compote' but without the strawberry compote (!) because it's always too sweet. Could be improved by topping it with real cream rather than that awful 'whipped topping' (which just seems like sweetened shaving foam).

We could start a whole other thread about "foods which Americans get so wrong". Whipped cream, cheese, bread, and don't get me started on what they do to a cup of tea...

[Karen Pearson]

We could start a whole other thread about "foods which Americans get so wrong". Whipped cream, cheese, bread, and don't get me started on what they do to a cup of tea...

Oh, you've started me off on one now! Took several visits before I realised I had to specify English breakfast tea in order to get anything like a proper cuppa (and even then it's usually a pale imitation). Orange pekoe tea? What's that all about then? Why would anyone drink the stuff? (N.B. Most Publix supermarkets in Florida sell Yorkshire tea but it's in the 'Ethnic Foods' aisle!)

And cheese! Surely someone must have realised there's a market for real cheese by now. And why is coleslaw sweet??? Even the stuff that is not supposed to be sweet (as opposed to the stuff labelled 'Sweet coleslaw') is sweet. How can white cabbage, onion, carrot and mayonnaise suddenly become sweet?

But, to be fair, the bread situation is improving. Publix do some good breads and so do Panera (a bakery/sandwich chain).

My favourite was trying to explain to a supermarket worker what free-range eggs are. He kept offering me ones certified as 'antibiotic-free' and I kept insisting I was more interested in the birds' quality of life. He looked at me like I was an alien (which, of course, I am according to US immigration).

P.S. Sorry, Jason - Don't take all this the wrong way. I love coming to America on holiday and have visited every single year for the last 7 years. I'm sure there are things about the UK that would drive you mad (just read Bill Bryson's 'Notes From A Small Island' for some examples).

[Phil Reynolds]

Took several visits before I realised I had to specify English breakfast tea in order to get anything like a proper cuppa (and even then it's usually a pale imitation).

On my first trip to New York, I ordered a cup of tea in a diner and was brought a large, shallow breakfast cup around half full of lukewarm water, standing on a saucer on which was a tea bag and a wedge of lemon. I dunked the tea bag in the water for about five minutes to little effect while I tried to flag down the waiter to ask for some milk, by which time the pale yellow liquid in the cup was stone cold. I find now that my best chance in most average diners is to specify "hot tea with milk", although even then you run the risk that some numpty will try and make it with hot milk.

The best place I ever found for tea in the US was, surprisingly enough, Dunkin' Donuts. There was a branch just around the corner from the lodgings where I stayed in Boston once. On my way back there after a night out I would call in, ask for a hot tea to go - and they would put a tea bag in a cardboard cup, fill it from a machine with (oh joy!) boiling water, put the lid on and give it to me in a bag with a couple of little cartons of fresh milk. By the time I'd walked back to my digs, it would be brewed to perfection.

And cheese! Surely someone must have realised there's a market for real cheese by now.

If you read the book to accompany Stephen Fry's recent TV series on America (which I recommend), he reckons that there are a few isolated dairy farmers producing proper cheese, but supermarkets won't touch it - you have to buy it mail order, or from a handful of specialist markets. (As Jason will no doubt confirm, Pike Place Market in Seattle is apparently one of the best in the country.)

An oddity I've noticed when grocery shopping in the US is that, while they sell Tropicana Orange Juice in cartons that look almost identical to the ones they export over here, what they call "Original" is the smooth stuff with no bits of fruit pulp. In the UK, we have Original (with bits) and Smooth Style (no bits); in the US, you get Original (no bits) and "Country Style" (with bits). Weird.

[EDIT: just checked the Tropicana website and the above is a bit out of date. They now do orange juice in "pulp-free", "some pulp" and "high pulp" variants. This adds weight to my suspicion that the basic manufacturing removes all the pulp and they then add it back in, in varying quantities, to make the different versions.]

Anyway, annoyances like cheese and tea aside, there are lots of foods that Americans get right that Brits just can't seem to manage. Order a burger in any half-decent burger restaurant in the US (i.e. not MacDonald's) and you'll be asked how you want it cooked, just as though it's a piece of prime beef - because, guess what, that's what it's made from. Californian-style burgers with crispy bacon and avocado slices are to die for.

[Matt Morrison]

If you read the book to accompany Stephen Fry's recent TV series on America (which I recommend)...

You recommending the book or the show Phil? I watched the show, I enjoyed it because I love Fry, but it was a bit short, a bit brief, a bit shallow.

Thankfully, I checked it out on Wikipedia after the first couple of episodes aired, and found this:

"A five-part companion series, More Fry in America, has been commissioned for BBC Four; it will feature in-depth essays that Fry couldn't include in the former documentary because of time constraints."

...which is exactly what I wanted. But doesn't seem to have been any word on it since then, sadly.

[Phil Reynolds]

If you read the book to accompany Stephen Fry's recent TV series on America (which I recommend)...

You recommending the book or the show Phil? I watched the show, I enjoyed it because I love Fry, but it was a bit short, a bit brief, a bit shallow.

I was talking about the book, although like you I enjoyed the TV series for what it was. I hope the companion series comes off.

[Jason Larsen]

So, Karen, they do have the Jif brand in the UK!

And you do know what IHOP is because you have been to Florida! Did you see Phil there? Yes, they have a very good variety there!

[Karen Pearson]

So, Karen, they do have the Jif brand in the UK!

And you do know what IHOP is because you have been to Florida! Did you see Phil there? Yes, they have a very good variety there!

I, like Phil, originally heard about IHOPs on TV (Buffy The Vampire Slayer or something like that probably) but my first encounter was in New England. And I've now been to several in an around Orlando. Because of the rather lardy nature of the food, I'm only usually allowed to go to an IHOP once in each holiday!

Oh, and yes we do have Jif lemons here. We used to have a bathroom cleaner called Jif too but that's now called Cif. Never tasted that great on pancakes!

[Matt Morrison]

We used to have a bathroom cleaner called Jif too but that's now called Cif. Never tasted that great on pancakes!

You must have been getting the Alpine Breeze one rather than the Lemon Fresh one. Delicious.

[Jason Larsen]

Karen, believe it or not, Jif is a brand of peanut butter in the US!