Indian Pancake: Cheela/Chilla

"Cheela," also spelled "chilla," are a kind of pancake made from chickpea flour in India. While they are a common item for breakfast, they are also eaten at other times of day. Some Indians make them with varying amounts of grated or finely chopped vegetables cooked into the batter, like chopped tomato, coriander (cilantro), onion or garlic, and they make the pancakes a "little" thicker. Others make them thinner, like a crepe, and then they place veggies on top and roll them or fold them over, or they simply put butter or ghee (clarified butter) on them. I've chosen to just go somewhat straightforward here so you get the idea, but the overwhelming number of recipes I've seen have fresh chili pepper as an ingredient, but if you don't like "hot" foods, these don't have to be made to make you cringe from the heat, but you can seed the chili and just use perhaps 1/2 of it. These are very easy to make. I got four 7 inch diameter and thin pancakes from the recipe below.    

Ingredients:

1 cup chickpea flour
3/4 cup water (more if batter is too thick)
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1 green chili, finely chopped (jalapeño or serrano, you can seed them, or leave the seeds for heat)
oil for frying

Mix together the flour, turmeric, salt and finely chopped green chili, then slowly stir in the water to form a batter. The batter should be fairly loose, but with a little body to it, like the consistency of heavy cream. Let the batter sit for about 15 minutes, then stir again. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add about a 1/4 teaspoon of oil to the skillet and swirl the oil in the skillet to coat the bottom of the pan. Put a ladle of batter into the heated skillet and smooth it out with the underside of the ladle. When the top of the pancake is set, sprinkle a little oil (about 1/4 teaspoon) around the edges and tilt the pan so that the oil runs down the outside edges of the pancakes. This will help the edges to crisp up somewhat. Flip the pancake and cook on the other side. The pancake should be lightly browned on both sides, but if there are some darker brown spots on it, that is certainly not against the rules. Serve the pancakes warm.

I just put some butter on the chillla I fixed, and I had a couple of tomato slices and some fresh coriander (cilantro)

WORD HISTORY: 
Anomaly-Part of this word is distantly related, through Indo European, to "same," a word from the Germanic roots of English, as well as to words beginning with "homo-," like "homogenize," "homonym," "homosexual," and others, with that prefix going back to Greek. "Anomaly" goes back to the Indo European root "sem," which had the notion of "one, together, united." This gave Indo European "samos/somos"), which meant "same." This gave Ancient Greek "homo(s)," which meant, "same." This produced "homolos," meaning, "even, level." Greek also had "an," meaning, "not, not having, without," from Indo European "ne," with the general meaning "not." This was then put together in Greek as "anomalos," literally, "not even;" thus also, "irregular." This produced the Greek noun "anomalia," meaning, "(an) inequality, (an) irregularity, an unevenness." This was borrowed by Latin as "anomalia," with the same meanings, and English borrowed the word in the second half of the 1500s, but it was in the second half of the 1600s that the word solidified in the general meaning still with us today, "an irregularity, a defect, something that breaks with common practice." 

Austro-German Dessert Pancake: Kaiserschmarrn

I often had Kaiserschmarrn at the "Wienerwald" Restaurant in Frankfurt back in the 1980s. If I remember right, the restaurant was on Kaiserstraße, not far from the main train station, and it was located in a split level space, so you had to walk down a few steps (not many) to enter. "Wienerwald" means "Vienna Woods," and the restaurant was part of a large restaurant chain in Germany and Austria, one of the largest in Europe at the time, as I recall. They specialized in chicken dishes, with particular emphasis on "Backhendl;" that is, "fried chicken." The chain had financial difficulties and they later closed the restaurant on Kaiserstraße, but after some restructuring, they opened at a new location around the intersection of Kaiserstraße and Weserstraße. The chain was much scaled back a number of years later, as financial problems continued, and this resulted in the closing of the restaurant in Frankfurt. I believe the restaurants in Austria were sold off, so that they have a separate owner from those in Germany, but they all have similar menu offerings. 

Anyway, Kaiserschmarrn are a type of sweet pancake that is torn or cut into pieces and dusted with powdered sugar before serving. They are often served with a side dish of plum compote (German: Pflaumenröster or Zwetschgenröster) or apple sauce (German: Apfelmus), but I like to put a little glaze on my Kaiserschmarrn. The German word "Schmarren/Schmarrn" is related to English "smear," which in German is "schmieren" (verb), and the noun from that is, "Schmer," meaning, "fat of a swine;" thus also, "lard," and the connecting thought was likely because the original pancakes would have been cooked in lard. The word seems to have only come into use in southern German dialects in the 1500s, and the meaning became, "piece(s)," perhaps from the idea that the pancakes cooked in lard were then cut up into pieces. Besides its use for a cut up pancake (a pancake in 'pieces'), it also took on the slang meaning of "nonsense/rubbish."* This may have come from the idea of regular pancakes being cheap; thus, with little value. 

The history of this dessert is not really known, but the "Kaiser" part has long tied the dish to Kaiser (Emperor) Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, who ruled for some 68 years, before his death in late 1916 at the age of 86. Over the years I've read several theories about the name of this pancake dish, with one simply being that it had originated from a simple pancake recipe from the countryside, but that by the mid 1800s, it took on added ingredients, like raisins, sugar, vanilla and sometimes, cinnamon, which were not available to common people, thus making it "fit for the Kaiser," or perhaps, "fit for a Kaiser." Other stories "claim" it was a favorite dessert of Franz Joseph and that this is, therefore, the source of the name. 

Ingredients:

1 cup flour, sifted
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites
1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
few drops of vanilla 
1/3 cup golden raisins
pinch of salt
2 to 3 tablespoons butter for frying (or mix of half butter, half neutral oil)
powdered sugar for dusting

Mix together the sifted flour, sugar, salt, egg yolks and milk to make a batter. Beat the egg whites until stiff, then fold them into the batter. Some people use a large skillet and make one large pancake, but I prefer to use a smaller skillet and make two pancakes, one after the other. Melt the butter in a smaller skillet over low heat. Add enough batter to the skillet to make a 6 to 7 inch pancake, tilting the skillet back and forth to even out the batter. Sprinkle some raisins on top once the bottom of the pancake sets. Fry the pancake until it is nice and brown, then fry the pancake on the other side. Remove the pancake to a dish and keep it warm, while you repeat the process for the second pancake. Cut or tear the pancakes into bite-sized pieces. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar, or pour on a little powdered sugar glaze... enjoy.


Powdered sugar glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 tablespoons warm milk

Put the butter and 2 tablespoons milk in a microwave safe dish. Heat for a few seconds until the butter melts. Mix in the powdered sugar. You can add a little more milk if the glaze is too thick.

* For a little more on the word "Schmarren," and also about Kaiserschmarren," here is the link:
http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2012/09/its-none-of-your-pancake-business.html

Click to enlarge

WORD HISTORY:
Speck (2)-This word, meaning "small spot," has a very uncertain history. It is related to "speckle," both the noun and the verb forms. In Old English (Anglo-Saxon) it was "specca," which then became "spekke," before the modern form. It is related to the Dutch verb "spekelen," which fell into disuse, but which meant, "to sprinkle." The Dutch word in this case is the likely source of English "speckle," and it was influenced in meaning by English "speck," then still spelled "spekke," to produce the meaning "make small marks on something." Whether "speck/speckle" are from Germanic; that is, derived from some Germanic base word, is unclear.    

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.   

Hungarian Pancakes With Walnut Filling

This is a Hungarian pancake, a "palacsinta," called "Gundel Palacsinta," in Hungarian, after the dessert's inventor, Károly Gundel, a Budapest restaurant owner of the early to mid 20th Century.   

Ingredients:

Pancakes:

1 1/4 cup flour
2/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup sparkling mineral water (or club soda)
1/4 teaspoon salt
oil/butter for frying

Filling:

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 to 1 cup finely chopped or ground walnuts
1/4 cup chopped raisins
2 tablespoons rum
2 tablespoons grated orange peel

Chocolate Sauce:

4 ounces dark chocolate
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cocoa powder
1 tablespoon rum

Put the raisins and grated orange peel into the rum in a small bowl or cup about an hour before you will use them. In a bowl, mix the flour, the eggs, the salt and the sugar. Gradually stir or whisk in the milk to form a batter. Add the sparkling water (it will foam) and stir to mix. The batter should be neither too thick (like most cake batter), nor too thin, but rather like the thickness of gravy, so you can adjust the ingredients slightly to achieve that. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes. In a sauce pan, heat the cream to just a simmer, then stir in the sugar until it is well dissolved. Add the other ingredients and mix well. Keep the heat very low, so that the mixture just barely simmers for a few minutes, stir frequently. The mix should form a paste-like consistency. In another pan, heat the cream over low heat. Add the chocolate and keep stirring until the chocolate has melted. KEEP THE HEAT LOW! Mix the egg yolks with the sugar and cocoa and then gradually whisk the mix into the chocolate, whisking constantly. Whisk in the rum. Let the chocolate sauce remain over VERY low heat, stirring or whisking occasionally, until it is nicely thickened.

Make sure to oil the pan you will use to fry the crepes (pancakes, palacsinta). I used an 8 inch nonstick fry pan with a little butter and oil mixture for each palacsinta. I used low heat, but some recipes I've seen used medium heat. Put enough batter into the pan to just coat the bottom. These should be pretty thin pancakes. Cook until lightly browned, then flip the pancake to the other side and do the same. Spread some walnut mixture (paste) onto half of each palacsinta, fold over the other half and then fold again. Drizzle some chocolate sauce over each palacsinta and serve while still warm.  


Spread some of the walnut paste onto half of each pancake ...

Fold the palacsinta and drizzle with some chocolate sauce ...

WORD HISTORY: 

Meander-This word goes back to a river in southwestern Asia Minor (now modern Turkey). The transliterated Ancient Greek name was "Maíandros," which was borrowed by Latin as "Maeander." English borrowed the word in the late 1500s as "meander," meaning "a winding path or course," seemingly initially for rivers and streams and then broadened to land courses. The verb developed about a decade later meaning, "to flow in a winding course," but it too then broadened beyond water, eventually even taking on a further meaning for humans or animals of "wandering about." 

Hungarian Cheese Filled Pancakes

"Palacsinta" (pronounced as if, "palah-cheen-tah") is the Hungarian word for pancake. From what I've found, these cheese filled pancakes are called "Túrós Palacsinta" (curd cheese pancake) in Hungarian. These are a sweet crepe-like pancake. If you can't find dry cottage cheese, you can use small curd cottage cheese.

Ingredients:

Pancakes:

1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon sugar
2/3 cup sparkling mineral water (or club soda)
1/4 teaspoon salt
oil/butter for frying (I used a mix of the two)
powdered sugar for dusting

Filling:

8 ounce package cream cheese (let warm to room temperature), mashed
2/3 cup dry cottage cheese (room temperature), mashed 
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

Mix the flour, egg, milk, sugar, salt and sparkling water together into a batter. Heat a little oil in a small to medium frying pan over medium heat. Add enough batter to just cover the bottom of the pan and shake the pan to spread out the batter to form a relatively even thin layer. Fry the pancake until it gets a little brown, then flip it over and brown that side. You will have to watch the palacsinta carefully, as they will cook quickly, with the first side likely requiring only 25 to 30 seconds and the second side needing only 15 to 20 seconds, but the cooking time will naturally depend upon how thick you make the pancakes. Remove each fried pancake to a separate plate, then fry another pancake.

Make sure to let both the cream cheese and cottage cheese come to room temperature. In a bowl, mix the cheeses and other ingredients well. Spread a heaping tablespoon or two of the cheese filling into each pancake and then roll up the pancake. Serve the pancakes seam side down and dusted lightly with powdered sugar. Alternatively, to serve the pancakes warm, you can place the palacsinta on a baking sheet (parchment paper lined helps with any clean up), seam side down, and put them into a 350 F oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. Serve immediately. 

I overfilled this palacsinta with cheese filling so it could be easily seen.

WORD HISTORY:
Callow-This word, meaning, "young, inexperienced," in modern times, goes back to Indo European "galwh," which meant, "bare, naked." There is disagreement over the next step in this word's history, with some believing there was an Old Germanic offshoot from the Indo European form, while others point to the Latin form derived from Indo European, and that this was borrowed into Germanic. I go with the latter, but it seems to me the borrowing was into the West Germanic branch of Germanic, as forms of the word were (and still are) in West Germanic, but not in the Germanic languages in general in the past.^ So, the Indo European form gave Latin "calvus," which meant, "bald." This gave West Germanic "kalwas," which meant, "bald, bare." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "calu," with the same meanings. This then became "calwe," before the modern version of "callow." The meaning gradually came to be applied (adjectivally) to young birds not yet old enough to have feathers. Later the meaning broadened to young living things in general; then, to the notion of "young," to "inexperienced." The other West  Germanic languages have: German and Low German Saxon "kahl" (bald, bare), West Frisian "keal(e)" (bald), Dutch "kaal" (bald, bare). (Karl/Charles II, the grandson of Charlemagne, and also a Frankish king and emperor, has been known to history as "Charles the Bald," which in German is, "Karl der Kahle," from Latin "Carolus Calvus.")

^ Present versions of a word don't necessarily tell much about the history of its ancestor, as words are frequently borrowed between languages; so, in this case, while English has always had a form of "callow," just knowing that English has "callow" in modern times does not mean it originally had it; thus, if Swedish had a form of "callow" in modern times, would not mean it always had it.  

Savory Hungarian Stuffed Pancakes: Hortobágyi Palacsinta

Slight update to "Word History" 8-14-22

This crepe-like stuffed pancake dish is called "Hortobágyi Palacsinta," in Hungarian. It is often made with veal, but other meat is not uncommonly used, especially ground pork, which is what I often use. Chicken is also commonly used, but it is not always ground chicken, but rather pieces of chicken are cooked as part of the stew, then the meat is taken off of the bones and chopped to the desired size. Of course, you can make the pancakes using a smaller skillet (like 6 inch) up to a large skillet (like 12 inch skillet), or something in between, which is what I do, as I generally use a 9 inch skillet. 

Ingredients:

Stew:

1 pound ground pork (or ground veal)
1 medium onion, chopped (smaller type pieces)
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes, with some of the juice
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
2/3 to 1 teaspoon salt
2/3 teaspoon pepper
2 1/2 tablespoons sweet paprika (preferably Hungarian, but use what you have)
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons olive oil

sauce:

1 cup sour cream
1 cup broth from the meat preparation
3 to 4 tablespoons flour

for the crepes:

1 cup flour
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
oil or butter for frying

In a skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and let cook for a couple of minutes, then add the ground meat. Keep breaking up the meat as it cooks with the onion, as you don't want large chunks of meat in the filling. When the onions are softened, add the tomatoes, the caraway, salt, pepper and paprika, and mix well. Add the broth and continue to simmer the stew for about 20 to 25 minutes. Strain the stew using a sieve.

Put the strained broth into a pan over medium low heat. Mix the flour with a little water and whisk it into the broth. Let the mixture cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the thickened broth from the heat and let it sit for a few minutes, then whisk in the sour cream.

In a skillet (preferably non-stick), add a little oil or melt some butter over low heat. In a bowl, mix together the flour, eggs, milk and salt. Add enough batter to the heated skillet to form a thin crepe-like pancake. Let the crepe cook until the liquid is no longer runny on top, then turn the crepe over. Both sides of the crepe should be lightly browned.  

Put a couple of tablespoons of the meat mixture into each pancake (crepe). Tuck in the sides and roll up the palacsinta around the filling. Serve the palacsinta with the sour cream sauce over them, or put the filled pancakes into a baking dish, pour the sour cream sauce over them and bake at 350 F for about 12 to 15 minutes, then serve.

 Served with a small green salad of kale, tomato and red onion ....

WORD HISTORY:
Hinder-The ultimate origin of this verb (and sometime adjective) is uncertain, "perhaps" going back to Indo European "kom," which meant, "beside, near, together, by;" but I'm not totally convinced of this. Whatever the source, "hinder" does go back to Old Germanic "hindronan," which meant, "to put to the back, to keep back, to keep to the rear." This gave Old English the verb "hindrian," which meant, "to hold back, to obstruct, to impede or prevent advance." Later condensed to "hinder." The adjective use shows reference to "behind, in the rear, in the back." Other Germanic relatives (verb forms): German has "hindern" (prevent, hamper, impede), Low German Saxon "hinnern" (stop, hold in, hold back), Dutch "hinderen" (hamper, hold back, keep back from), Swedish "hindra" (prevent, keep back, hold in). This was all I could find, but Old Norse seems to have had "hindra" and Frisian once had "hinderia." By the way, German has the derived noun, "Hindernis," meaning, "barrier, obstacle," with the obvious tie to the verb, and English has the noun, "hindrance," originally spelled "hinderance," which dates to the mid 1400s. It is one of those mixed words, with "hinder," an English word derived from Germanic, with the "ance" suffix from French, from Latin "antia/entia." 

Palatschinken, Austrian Pancakes

Generally, standard German uses "Pfannkuchen" as the word for "pancake" (the relationship between the German and the English words is clear), and "Eierkuchen" (literally, "egg cake") is another common word, but there are some other regional terms in German, like "Plinse" in Saxony (in eastern Germany), "Flädle" in Swabia (southwestern Germany), "Flädli" in Switzerland and "Palatschinke" in Austria. The fact that these terms exist and continue to be used is not uncommon in German, as dialect terms for specific dishes tend to show regional pride, and to be quite honest, there is no strong desire or societal pressure to change them. They are a part of the food history of these various regions."Palatschinken" are thinner crepe-like pancakes (but not super thin), spread with fruit jam (or sometimes with cheese) and then almost always rolled up, rather than folded over or folded into angles. The word is of Latin derivation, but came into German by way of Hungarian "palacsinta," likely with strong reinforcement from Czech "palačinka." The Habsburg family ruled Hungary, as well as Bohemia (heavily Czech populated, with a German minority in those times, but since the end of  World War Two "almost" exclusively Czech), for quite some time, and Vienna became a very cosmopolitan city from the extensive reach of the Habsburgs. 

Ingredients (4 to 6 Palatschinken, depending upon size):

1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
pinch of salt
1 or 2 tablespoons sugar (optional) 
butter for cooking (about 4 tablespoons)
apricot preserves
powdered sugar for dusting

Beat the eggs. Mix the flour and milk well, then add the eggs and salt. Mix well. Drizzle in the melted butter, stirring to mix it in. I used 1/3 cup of batter per pancake, making sure to spread the batter around, so that each pancake will not be too thick (but they shouldn't be super thin, either). You can make the Palatschinken as big around as you like. Brown each pancake lightly on both sides. Spread some apricot preserves over each palatschinke, leaving a good border around the entire pancake. Roll up the pancakes and sprinkle on a little powdered sugar.

WORD HISTORY:
Pan-This word's ultimate origin is unknown. It comes from Germanic, perhaps the more specific West Germanic branch of Germanic (there "seem" to be no forms in the North Germanic or East Germanic branches long ago), but whether Germanic had a form from its parent language, Indo European (or even borrowed it from another language family), or whether Germanic borrowed the word into the West Germanic branch long ago (perhaps circa 400 AD?) from Latin, is the question. Latin had "patina," other forms of which were, "patna" and "panna," which meant, "dish, bowl, cooking dish, pan," a word that it had borrowed from Greek "patánē," which meant, "bowl, dish." Again, where Greek got the word is unknown. "A 'hollowed out' utensil or dish for serving or preparing food" seems to be the connecting meaning. Anyway, Old Germanic or West Germanic had "panna/panno," which meant, "pan." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "panne" (the ending 'e' would have been pronounced back then as "eh/ah"), and this later was shortened to just "pan." The other Germanic languages have: German "Pfanne," Low German Saxon "Pann," West Frisian "panne" (?), Dutch "pan." Swedish has "panna," meaning, "pan, kettle," but this is a borrowing from Low German a few hundred years ago. 

A Type of German Potato Pancake: Pickert

"Pickert," a German word that is spelled the same in both the singular and in the plural,* is used for a potato pancake type dish made with yeast. The dish is common in the Westphalia region (German: Westfalen), and a well known part of the cuisine of the city of Lippe within that region. There are slight variations in some recipes, or in the shapes and accompaniments for the Pickert. Generally, they are served with at least one of the following: apple sauce, plum jam, butter, various fruit compotes, sugar beet syrup, or, especially in the city of Lippe, liverwurst. Yes, liverwurst!** Please be sure to try the liverwurst topped Pickert, they are delicious. 

Ingredients:

3 cups grated potatoes (no big pieces, or it will not cook properly)
3 cups flour
4 eggs
2 cups milk (about 1/4 cup just heated to lukewarm only)
1 packet dried yeast
1 cup raisins
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
vegetable oil, canola oil or regular olive oil for frying

Dissolve the yeast in the 1/4 cup barely lukewarm milk, set it aside for a few minutes. In a bowl, add the other ingredients, except the oil, and then stir in the milk/yeast mixture. Mix well until a thick batter forms. "If" you need a little more flour to tighten the batter, mix the flour in a little at a time until you reach a batter that is thick, but still able to be poured. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let the dough sit for about an hour. Heat some oil in a skillet over medium heat (cast iron is good for this, but certainly not mandatory). Put enough dough into the heated oil for each pancake to be "about" 3 inches in diameter, but the pancakes do not need to be perfectly shaped into rounds; in fact, they are traditionally somewhat irregular in shape, often more oblong. Fry the pancakes until golden brown on both sides. Drain the Pickert on paper towels.

* For those learning German, the singular form is masculine; thus, "der Pickert."

** For homemade liverwurst/Leberwurst: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/01/homemade-liverwurst.html

I had these with some plum jam and liverwurst.

WORD HISTORY:
Earn-This word goes back to Indo European "osen," which meant, "harvest time, late summer." This gave Old Germanic "asni," with the same meaning, but also, by extension, "harvest work, work in the fields to bring in the yield." ^ This produced the Old Germanic verb "asnon/aznon," which meant, "to work in the fields, to work at harvesting." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "earnian," with the meaning, "to work toward, to strive toward, to be rewarded for work." This then became "earnen/ernen," before settling on "earn." There seems to have been a variant pronunciation within some of the West Germanic dialects long ago (English is West Germanic), which replaced the "s" with "r," but it was not always, nor among all of the dialects. German has "ernten" (to harvest, to bring in the yield of the fields), Low German Saxon has "oornen" (harvest). Long ago, English had "ern" and Old High German had the close form "arn," both of which meant "harvest" (noun).    

^ The Germanic form gave Old English "esne," which meant, "worker or servant who was hired or who  owed part of the harvest from use of land (by agreement)." Low German had "asne," which transferred the meaning from "worker" to the income for the worker, as it meant "wages, income," so you see the move by this close relative of English toward what would evolve into the modern English meaning.

It's None Of Your 'Pancake' Business!

Germans, the ethnic group, not just the nationality, fix all sorts of pancakes. In the south, they are typically called "Schmarren,"* of which there are numerous variations, with the most famous being "Kaiserschmarren" ("Emperor's Pancakes"), and the "e" in the "en" is often dropped, leaving "Schmarrn." Decades ago I developed a love for "Kaiserschmarren," and that love continues to this day. Not far from the main train station (the "Hauptbahnhof") in Frankfurt, Germany was a "Wienerwald" Restaurant (Wienerwald="Vienna Woods").** This was a chain of restaurants (casual attire) started in the 1950s in Munich, if I remember right. Their specialty was chicken, both "Grillhendl" (roast/rotisserie chicken) and "Backhendl" (fried chicken), and they were excellent. As the name implies, they had a "Viennese theme," and one of the desserts was "Kaiserschmarren," a specialty of Vienna ("Wien" in German). These are pancakes made with flour, eggs, milk, sugar, raisins (usually golden), and cinnamon. Naturally, everyone has their own recipe, but many also fold in beaten egg whites to lighten the pancakes. The batter is poured into a frying pan with melted butter, and once set, it is torn with two forks, or cut, into bite size pieces. The finished product is then dusted with powdered sugar and often accompanied by plum sauce (like plum preserves or stewed plums), as they were in Frankfurt, although other fruit preserves are used too. I make them frequently, but I skip the beaten egg white step. I also skip the dusting of powdered sugar, instead mixing powdered sugar with some melted butter and a splash of evaporated milk to make an icing like drizzle to top the Schmarren. I once even added some "Kirschwasser" (cherry brandy) to the drizzle instead of milk. It was good, and I decided to have another shot, ah, I mean serving; after which, I didn't care if I hadn't put the egg whites in anyway.

I decided upon the title of this article, because German uses an expression with the word "Schmarren" in it, which is really a bit strong: "Das geht Sie einen Schmarren an," the true meaning of which is, "That's none of your damned business." So, as you can see, my title loses something in the translation. "Schmarren" can also mean "nonsense" or "rubbish" in every day spoken German (colloquial German, or in Gerrman, "Umgangssprache").   

In northwestern Germany, buckwheat pancakes are common and there are various terms, all in Low German, like "Bookweetenschubber," or "Bookweetpannekoke." They are made with buckwheat flour, eggs, milk, a little salt, and some sugar. Now, there are many variations on this recipe, as in some parts they use yeast, in other parts they add nutmeg (or mace) and pepper. Up on the North Sea coast they replace the milk with tea,*** and bacon is added to the batter. In the general vicinity of Dortmund, slices of bacon are fried first and the batter poured over them in the pan, and even currants can be added, but the main thing here is, the liquid used is neither milk nor tea, but coffee! All sorts of fruit preserves, compotes, and syrups accompany the buckwheat pancakes.  

* The standard German word for "pancake" is "Pfannkuchen," and besides the term "Schmarren," mainly used in Bavaria and Austria, there is also "Flädle," used in southwestern Germany (in the general area of Stuttgart, just as a point of reference), where they are even cut up and put into soup. Of course, Germans are famous for all sorts of potato pancakes, and there are oodles of dialect terms for them, so I won't even go there. For the north, see above.

** As English did, German borrowed the word "restaurant" from French, but they pronounce it the French way. For those studying German, it is "das Restaurant."

*** This is the ancestral homeland of English and the Anglo-Saxons, and interestingly, the people there love tea, just as their close relatives in England, but it has more to do with climate, than any "blood" connection, as the weather there can change quickly, as the winds come whipping in from the sea.

WORD HISTORY:
Cake-Now, you might think this word is related to "cook," but it isn't. It goes back to Indo European "ghag/ghog," which simply had the notion of "a spherical object, a clump." Its Old Germanic offspring was "kokon," which by then meant "clump, or small round loaf of bread," which shows the word's connection to its original "spherical object, clump" meaning. It was not until the 1400s and 1500s that "cake" was more commonly used for the sweetened form of bread we think of today. The Old Germanic form gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "cecel," which meant "a small cake (bread)," which was then reinforced by, or overtaken by, Old Norse (North Germanic) "kaka" in the 1200s, which quickly took the form "cake," as it has remained ever since. The verb form then developed from the noun in the late 1500s or early 1600s. Common throughout the other Germanic languages: German has "Kuchen," Low German Saxon has "Koke(n)," West Frisian has "koeke," Dutch has "koek," Danish has "kage," Norwegian has "kake," and Swedish and Icelandic have "kaka."