The history of the origin of this dish has several versions. Some historians claim that the word "pancake" comes from the Slavic "mlin" - to grind. According to this version, pancakes appeared after the ancient Slavs learned to grind flour and add water from the dough to bake fluffy and blush pancakes. There is another version of the origin of this dish, when the popular oatmeal jelly was accidentally forgotten in the oven at that time, it burned a little, and a delicious, appetizing crust appeared on it, and it turned into a flatbread. This was the first pancake, very much liked by everyone.
Pancakes are a traditional delicacy of the Russian people, one of the most beloved and revered dishes, both in the times of ancient Russia and now. They occupied a worthy place on the table of every housewife, and are considered one of the very first flour dishes that appeared in the diet of our ancestors around the 9th century AD.
In many countries of the world there are their own varieties of this ancient flour tortilla, in ancient Egypt it was sour, in America it was called pancake, its dimeter is less than our pancakes and they are thicker, in Asia they made thin unleavened pancakes that were used instead of bread, the ancient Chinese made pancakes from rice flour with the addition of tea powder, seafood and onions. Each country has its own history of creating certain dishes, is proud of its traditions and customs.
For the Russian people, pancakes were and are one of the favorite delicacies, we are ready to eat them both day and night, enjoying the taste and aroma, as well as a variety of fillings, which can be both sweet (berries, jam, jam, cottage cheese) and not sweet (meat, mushroom, fish, with red and black caviar).
In ancient, pagan times, pancakes were a ritual of treating the spirits of ancestors, people believed that they could treat their souls, appease them so that they would contribute to a good harvest for the coming year. This is how Maslenitsa appeared, which at first was rather not a holiday, but a pagan ritual tradition. They baked a lot of pancakes, fed them to the poor, the poor and the wanderers, considering them intermediaries between the two worlds.
Also, according to some historians, pancakes were a sacrificial type of bread, which before the baptism of Russia was baked in the form of a circle as a symbol of worship to the ancient Slavic supreme god Perun and the sun god Yarilo, bringing as a gift to the gods for their patronage and intercession.
Every housewife in Russia had her own recipe for baking pancakes, kept secret and passed from mother to daughter. To make the pancakes look lush and delicious, the dough dough (the pancakes were yeast-based) was kneaded late at night, away from prying eyes.
Flour was added mainly buckwheat, which gave the pancakes a slightly sour pleasant taste, the basis of the liquid in the dough was yeast, milk and water, the finished pancakes were distinguished by splendor, ruddiness and were a little loose.
Pancakes were baked in the oven, necessarily on birch logs, using carefully calcined cast-iron pans with salt, greased with a piece of unsalted lard. The filling for pancakes could be very different from meat and mushrooms, to herring cottage cheese, and even porridge (buckwheat, semolina and wheat).
Previously, pancakes were baked everywhere throughout the year, serving as an everyday and festive dish. Since the 19th century, pancakes have become the main symbol of the bright, cheerful winter holiday of Maslenitsa, personifying the ruddy spring sun, they participated in the send-off of winter and the meeting of Spring-red.
SHROVETIDE WEEK:
On the first day of the oil week, Monday, under the name "Meeting", housewives begin to bake festive pancakes, the rolling of snow slides begins, an effigy is installed - a symbol of the past winter.
On the second day, Tuesday or "Zaygrysh", large-scale festivities begin, people go to visit each other, tasting the most important dish of the holiday - ruddy, fragrant and hearty pancakes with a variety of fillings.
The third day is Wednesday or "Dainty". On this day, tables both on the street and at home had to be bursting with treats, it was believed that the more a person ate pancakes for the whole day, the better!
Thursday - "Razgulyay" assumed riding on threes, fist fights, various games, gulbishcha, and of course the intensified eating of the main dish - delicious pancakes with fervor from the heat.
Friday is "Mother-in-law's Day", mothers-in-law bake their most delicious pancakes for guests and their beloved son-in-law.
Saturday - "Sister-in-law's get-togethers", the girls gathered for fun girlish get-togethers or went to visit relatives, helping themselves again with soft, ruddy, incredibly satisfying and delicious pancakes.
Sunday is a "Forgiven Day", they burned an effigy of winter, asked each other for forgiveness for all offenses, meeting the onset of a new, spring life and celebrating its arrival rejoicing, having fun and of course eating in huge quantities the main festive dish - Russian pancakes.
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