North German Pancakes: Pannkoken

This pancake dish from northwestern Germany is a good one. This area is the land where the people speak East Frisian and/or Low German as their daily language, but where standard German is learned in school. East Frisian is a dialect of the general Frisian language, along with West Frisian, spoken in northern Holland, and North Frisian, spoken in northern Germany, including in part of the area of the German-Danish border region. Frisian, Low German and standard German are all close relatives of English, and this overall general area is the ancestral homeland of English, as the Germanic tribal elements that sailed to Briton and founded England lived here, just as many of their descendants still do. Here, an "apple" is an "appel" in Low German and East Frisian ("Apfel" in standard German), and in English it was once spelled "eppel" and "appel." The other fruit compote I chose to serve is blueberry, which is both "Blaubeere" and "Heidelbeere" in German, but "Bickbeer(e)" in this area of northern Germany, and indeed, it is a common pairing with these pancakes. Notice, unlike American pancakes, there is no baking powder or baking soda; thus, these pancakes are not as "fluffy" as their American counterpart, but rather a bit more to the dense side. I served mine with bacon, so I simply fried the bacon and poured off the fat from frying, then I added some of the grease back to the frying pan for cooking the pancakes. If frying the pancakes in bacon fat troubles you, you can mix some of the bacon grease with some canola oil, or regular olive oil, but at least use a little of the grease for each pancake, as it does add to their flavor, which helps to make them special. Now, you can most certainly use some preserves or jam, but the compotes are very easy to make.       

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups milk
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites, beaten to stiff consistency
1/2 teaspoon salt
bacon fat/grease*

Mix together the flour, whole wheat flour, egg yolks, milk and salt. Beat the egg whites to a stiff consistency, then fold them into the main mixture. Heat the bacon fat in a skillet over medium heat. Add enough batter to make a nice size pancake and fry until golden on both sides. Germans typically fold the pancakes over for serving. You can serve the compotes on the side or you can serve each pancake with a good spoonful of compote right on top.  

* Whatever term you prefer. When I was a kid, you seldom, if ever, heard it referred to as "bacon fat," rather only as "bacon grease." "Bacon fat" was fat still attached to the bacon.

Apple Compote:

2 cups chopped apples, ^
3 to 4 tablespoons sugar (per your taste)
1/2 cup apple juice
1 to 2 tablespoons cornstarch + 2 to 3 tablespoons apple juice
(optional) 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a sauce pan over medium heat, add the chopped apple, sugar and apple juice. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce the heat so that the mixture maintains a gentle simmer. Cook for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until the apples reach the texture you prefer (soft or still a bit firm). Mix together the cornstarch and apple juice, then gradually add it to the simmering apples, stirring constantly, until the compote is at the thickness you desire. If you'd like, you can add the ground cinnamon, but myself, I prefer the apple taste without the spice. But go ahead and add cinnamon... see if I care! I may just report you to the Apple Police! You can serve the compote with the pancakes while it is still hot, or you can let it cool a bit first. If you refrigerate it, you can always pop it in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds before serving it.

^ You can use red, green or golden, as it doesn't really matter, except I wouldn't recommend that you use a sour type of apple, unless you like that kind of tartness. Technically they should be peeled, but you can certainly leave the peel on for nutritional purposes if you'd like. If the "Apple Police" get you, it's because they're rotten to the core. Ah, "Apple  Police"... "rotten to the core"... If I have to explain it to you, I hope you get arrested by the Apple Police and you are condemned to listen to, "One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch..." ten times daily for a month, or five times daily for good behavior.

Blueberry Compote:

2 cups blueberries (you can also use frozen blueberries)
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 to 2 tablespoons cornstarch + 2 to 3 tablespoons water

Rinse and drain the blueberries. In a sauce pan, add the berries, water, sugar and lemon juice. You can use medium heat to bring the liquid to a slight boil, but then turn the heat down to where the berries just simmer. Cook for about 6 to 8 minutes, then gradually add some cornstarch mixed with water, stirring constantly, until you get the thickness you desire for the compote. The berries must be kept at a light simmer to thicken properly. The compote can be served hot, or cooled a little.

WORD HISTORY:
Compote/Compost-These two words are really the same word. They are closely related to "position," "composition," "component," "composite" and "compose," all words of Latin derivation borrowed by English. The prefix "com-" is a common prefix for words of Latin derivation going back to Indo European "kom/ghem," with the notion of, "by, with, near, beside;" thus Latin "com" (and its variant form "con") which has the meaning, "together, with." The origin of the rest of the word is uncertain, but it goes back to Latin "ponere," which meant, "to put into place;" thus also, "to arrange, to set in order." The two parts then gave Latin "componere," meaning, "to put together or arrange in order;" thus also, "to build or construct." Its participle form, "compositus" (meaning, "put or arranged together"), which gave Latin-based French "composte," meaning, "a blend, a mixture," which then became "compost," and came to be applied to "a mix of various fertilizing agents," but also, "a mixture of fruits cooked together;" then later, the altered spelling, "compote," was used for the fruit mixture. English borrowed "compost" in the 1390s, and it borrowed "compote" in the second half of the 1600s.