The universe is full of compelling questions. Do aliens exist? Is there a god? Are flapjacks and pancakes the same thing?
While I still can’t speak to the existence of extraterrestrials or an omnipotent being, I do know a thing or two about flapjacks and pancakes. For instance, in America, they’re one in the same. “It just depends on what your grandma called them,” says Elise Massey, owner of Flapjack’s Pancake Cabin.
It could also depend on where you’re located in the U.S. While “pancake” is the more common name all over the place nowadays, you’re more likely to hear “flapjack” if you’re in the South. Although, pancake jargon is ever-changing, and the puffy breakfast treat has also been called a “griddle cake,” a “hotcake” and even a “slapjack.”
It’s easy to imagine where all these different names came from. It’s believed that the word “flapjack” comes from flipping, or “flapping,” the cake on a griddle. “Pancakes” earned their name because, well, they’re cakes made in a pan.
Where we see an actual difference in flapjacks and pancakes is in the U.K. English “pancakes” are the same as American pancakes, but English “flapjacks” are more like American granola bars. They’re commonly made of rolled oats, butter and brown sugar, then baked in a tray and cut into squares or rectangles. It’s also normal to add your own touches like chocolate, dried fruit, nuts, yogurt and toffee pieces (or if you’re me, some weed).
Well, now you know about the differences between flapjacks and pancakes. Just give me a little more time, and I’ll get back to you about aliens and god.
Ian Lecklitner
Ian Lecklitner is a staff writer at MEL Magazine. He mostly writes about everyone's favorite things: Sex, drugs and food.
