It is clear to me, and indeed anyone that pancakes are far superior to waffles. My reasons for this are simple, but I apologise if they seem more personal than most. Waffles are humdrum, an everyday snack that sustains you along with tasting more than adequate. When I'm not hungry enough to make a pizza and too lazy to do anything else, i throw in some waffles. They are favoured for their simplicity, but in my list of foods they rank far down.
Pancakes however.... What an experience. For me, pancakes are a very seasonal thing. Actually, even less than a season. I have pancakes exactly one day a year; on the appropriately named Pancake Tuesday (or Shrove Tuesday if you want to get technical). I spend all day anticipating the tasty treats. I usually go without lunch to make the eventual consumption all the sweeter. When my school day finally ends and I go home, mouth watering, the expectation reaches its climax.
Another thing that marks the difference between pancakes and waffles is the amount of preparation that goes into both. As I mentioned previously, when making waffles it?s usually a matter of throwing them in the oven. When they finish, they usually receive no more garnish than a glob of ketchup, dropped haphazardly on the corner of the plate. Preparing pancakes however, is a sacred tradition. Adding the flour, eggs, butter and salt one by one to the greased pan, letting them freely mingle, complementing themselves perfectly. They are then quickly put on the stove, as the rattling of cookery equipment neatly mirrors the turmoil in my own half starved stomach. The sizzle as they start to fry is music to my ears, filling the silence with merry crackling. My ability to tell the ingredients apart dissipates as they join together and start to turn their utterly unique shade of light brown.
Next comes my favourite part of preparation, the flip. This is one of the few times in our pedestrian lives that we can truly flirt with danger. Sure, its no ramping over the gorge with no hands, but that sense of fear when you ready your hand, judging the exact amount of force necessary is intoxicating. And the relief that comes when you nail it and the delicacy lands perfectly on its back is as uplifting an experience as i?ve ever encountered.
And finally, when the pancake is laid painstakingly on a plate their is one more step. Despite the overlong love letter I have just wrote to them, even I will admit that the taste of a bare pancake is nothing to write home about. They need a little extra something to bring out the beauty that lies beneath. Theirs as many different options as stars in the sky; castor sugar, strawberries, chocolate... But time and time again, II add to my theory that I may have Canadian blood in me from a far off relative and go for syrup. Now syrup is another thing I rarely eat, but with pancakes their is no substitute.
As I stare at the plump looking pancake, just begging to be eaten, I cant think of any food i?d want more. And that, my friends definitely includes waffles.
