Pannenkoek!

Eastside Road, January 12, 2014 —

OR, IF YOU LIKE, pannekoek, without that third "n" — the Dutch seem to be, er, waffling on that subject. Whatever. It's a flour-egg-and-milk pancake, somewhat thinner than typical American ones but thicker than a French crêpe, made as big as the skillet allows, say the size of a dinner plate, and there are almost always little bits of delicious things in the batter before they're baked, though you can get them natuur if you insist; and they should be served with stroop, the Dutch form of treacle (from which the term "blackstrap molasses" derives).

And it is or can be dinner, or supper at least. We have them often in The Netherlands, zachte Nederland, where my favorites are ham-(candied) ginger, or appel-rozijnen (apple and raisins). Tonight Cook made appel-speck, cooking up bits of bacon and, separately, thin slices of apple, and then putting them in the batter as it cooks in the black iron skillet.

Before this, just to set the meal off on a proper Dutch note, the unpronouncable erwtensoep, good thick pea soup not innocent of animal protein. Afterward we were back home in California with a good green salad.

Barbera d'Asti