From the ArcaMax Publishing, The Culinary World, with Chef James Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/chefjames/s-187335-521196
QUESTION
Hi Chef James, I need a recipe for buckwheat
pancakes for a school project on president Grover Cleveland. Annie.
ANSWER
Here is one from that time period.
Boston
Cooking School Cook Book, Mrs. D. A. Lincoln (1884)
(This is the
original, by the schools first principal, before Fanny Farmer came to
the Boston Cooking School)
"Buckwheat Cakes
Pour one pint of boiling water on half a cup of
fine corn meal; add half a teaspoonful of salt. Mix well, and when
lukewarm add half a cup of white flour, one cup of buckwheat flour,
one fourth of a cup of yeast. Beat vigorously. Let it rise over night.
In the morning stir down, and beat again. When risen and ready to
bake, add one saltspoonful of soda, sifted through a fine strainer.
Beat again, and fry in large cakes.
Buckwheat cakes, even if not sour, usually require the addition of
soda just before baking, to make them light and tender. But when in
their best estate, they are far from perfect food. They should be
eaten only in very cold weather, and but seldom even then. They are
better and brown better when made with boiling milk instead of water."
Email your recipe requests, food info or history questions to me at james@foodreference.com.
Courtesy of FoodReference.com.