In pancake world, Shrove Tuesday is the one day of the year when you can eat pancakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and nobody can say ANYTHING about it - so that’s exactly what we’re doing today. In case you’re giving up sweets for Lent, two of the three recipes below are savoury, so they’re good to go through Lent and beyond. If you’re giving up innovative, fabulous, fun recipes for Lent… I can’t help you (sorry!)
Breakfast: Classic Kaiserschmarren
The fluffy scrambled pancake known as Kaischerschmarrn (direct translation: Emperor's Mess) is the MVP of Austrian dessert. Many of you are familiar with Japanese souffle pancakes - picture that, just (beautifully) messed up. There are many theories as to its exact origins, though dessert historians all agree that it was first served to (and loved by) the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I. My favourite theory posits that Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Sissi, while traversing the alps, held at a local farm for lunch. Nervous, the farmer hastily mixed his fanciest ingredients into a pancake, but accidentally shredded it with his shaky hands and tried to disguise his mishap with plum jam. Luckily, the emperor was a huge fan - and Kaiserschmarren - this delicious mess - became his favourite dessert.
Some serve it with a plum compote rather than applesauce, others would say raisins are mandatory (I personally think they should be illegal). The generous dusting of powdered sugar on top, however, is a non-negotiable, and a very good Kaiserschmarren needs to have lots of crispy, caramelised bits to counteract the fluffy pancake interior.
Lunch: Frittaten Croutons
As discussed in last week’s newsletter, Frittaten are savoury crepes that are rolled up tightly, then cut into thin noodle-esque strips. Typically served in a piping hot bowl of beef stock with chopped chives, they are among the most popular soup garnishes in Austria and southern Germany. For today’s recipe, we’re taking them to new frontiers and turning them into crispy, crunchy croutons to go on the soup, rather than in the soup (they would also work fabulously as salad croutons). Mine coincidentally happened to spell out soups…
Dinner: Savoury Kaiserschmarren
I’ve thought about it long and hard, and have come to the conclusion that if a regular Kaiserschmarren is a f***ed up souffle pancake, then a savoury Kaiserschmarren is a f***ed up omelette (with flour). Sometimes, just because you can doesn’t mean you should. But in this case, you can and you should. I’m going to try this out in a few more variations. It’s hearty yet light, fun to make, and very very delicious.