Many pancakes

[Geeta Bharathan]

On Sun, 12 Jul 1998, DEVARAKONDA VENKATA NARAYANA SARMA wrote:

> On 11 Jul 98 Dominique thillaud wrote:
>
> >Apparently, for the maNDaka, 'very thin' and 'thick kneaded dough'
> >seems contradictory, but I've seen old Italian pizzaioli making very big
> >and thin pizzas, doing jump and turn the initially small and thick disk in
> >their both hands with an astonishing dexterity. Do you believe the same
> >knack could be known in India?
>
> They employ two methods. One is making the thick small disk thin by
> pressing it with hands. The second is more spectacular. They throw
> the disk up giving it a spin. Due to centrifugal force the disk
> stretches itself and becomes thin by the time it lands back in to
> the hands of the chef.

I've been reading this thread with great interest (just knew that hanging
out here would pay off eventually), and since the question of technique
has come up I'd like to raise a couple of points.

Firstly, the word 'pancake' as used in this context needs clarification. I
believe that in the 'occidental' sense it is use for the cooked result of
thin batter poured on to a hot griddle. (so dosai would be 'pancake', as
would aappam)

The methods described here refer to various ways of making 'breads' of
various kinds. (so all the other items probably classify as 'bread' or
'roti).

If the technique and etymology are to be used in understanding the history
of these entities, I believe this distinction is important. I think that
Avinash Sathaye made this point in his posting.

--Geeta