Second born burst into the parental bedroom this morning asking if we’d like “flat” pancakes.
As opposed to lumpy ones?!
No – as opposed to “fluffy” (North American style) ones.
Proper pancakes were on offer. British and Euro-style crêpes.
Mais oui – definitely up for some of that. Especially if I don’t need to make them myself. As a kid, we’d always have them with lemon juice and sugar. Now we live in Canada, we inevitably add (real) maple syrup to the buffet of options. Second born loves to have hers with dark chocolate spread (like Nutella, but with more chocolate and no nuts), and showed an unnatural patience in spreading it just right to ensure the correct distribution of chocolate in the subsequently rolled pancake.
For one simply must roll the pancake into a tight cylinder before slicing it into delicious if somewhat unhealthy bite sized chunks. I prefer to trap an edge between two fork tines and roll the pancake that way, but second born uses manual dexterity, claiming it produces a tighter roll. It might be interesting to watch a dusky Cuban maiden from the tobacco fields, to see her technique. No particular reason. Just the voyeurism.
Anyway, all this as a tortuous lead up to my new found favourite condiment. Marilyn’s spicy red pepper jelly. Lovely on pancakes. I think I bought it at Canadian Superstore, which always has lots of eclectic foreign foods due to the local demographic of Surrey, BC. So anyway, it turns out that it’s made by Tower Foods in Abbotsford, just down the Fraser Valley in BC. Marilyn Tower is the owner it seems – hence the name of both the product range and the company. They produce a range of different jellies made of different peppers, but I’d bought this one due to the word spicy. It has a bit of a tang to be sure, but it’s certainly not chilli hot.
The ingredients are listed as:
- Sugar
- BC red peppers
- White vinegar
- BC jalapeño peppers
- Pectin
So basically, it’s jam. Made with peppers. I’ve had it on toast as an alternative to Silver Shred (also available at Canadian Superstore), and it works very nicely. Keep an eye out for it on your next grocery trip. Totally recommended.
While hunting for a product photo, I also came across this little article about Canadian beaurocracy, and French labelling on Tower Foods products. Quality local foods taken off the shelves because of the lack of French on the label. In a part of Canada where Mandarin or Punjabi would be way more beneficial to customers! Bureaucracy – The British Empire’s gift to the world…
Marilyn Tower, owner of Abbotsford’s Tower Foods, with some of the products seized from Vancouver’s Home Grow-In Grocer by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency due to alleged inadequate labelling. Credit: Doug Shanks — From the Weekender
Quieter Elephant 