FOOD NEWS
Gordon Ramsay's Pancakes Aren't Your Typical American Stack
By Kalea Martin
"Hell’s Kitchen" star Gordon Ramsay might be an expert chef, but he did face backlash in 2020 when he tweeted a photo of a breakfast menu item from his restaurant, captioning it, "the most amazing Full English." The dish’s small portion size, lack of beans, and high price point led commenters to point out that the breakfast looked neither "full" nor "amazing."
On the contrary, the buttermilk pancakes that he later posted were much better received, probably because most Americans consider them to be traditional pancakes. The pancakes that Ramsay usually cooks are not American, but English, characterized by an absence of a leavening agent like baking soda or baking powder, which makes them thin and flat rather than thick and fluffy.
The British, including Ramsay, celebrate Pancake Day (or Shrove Tuesday) the day before Ash Wednesday by preparing stacks of English pancakes, because they contain many of the ingredients that people tend to abstain from during the Lenten season, such as milk, butter, and eggs. The celebrity chef calls the day “one of the most important.”
English pancakes – unlike French crepes – are swirled in a pan, and for best results, Ramsay uses a nonstick pan and sprays it with cooking spray before ladling the batter in. He then swirls the batter around until the pan is coated, flips the pancake with a special technique, and uses honey, lemon, raspberries, and strawberries for the filling.