My family's reaction was strong, if mixed, to my efforts to make traditional buckwheat pancakes.

One recipe I used called for pure buckwheat flour, yeast, molasses, a bit of salt and buttermilk.

I put the batter in the refrigerator overnight, then left it on the radiator for a while before cooking the pancakes on a hot griddle. Those 12 hours gave the batter time to ferment and develop its distinctive taste and aroma.

"Smells like vinegar," my son, Peter, said of the finished 6-inch pancakes.

"They need plenty of maple syrup," my wife, Barbara, said.

I, on the other hand, was happy to eat them plain. Having brushed the griddle with butter before each batch, I found the pancakes were both sour enough and rich enough to satisfy my Eastern European peasant tastes.

Last fall when I wrote a story on Zanella Milling Co. -- the last place in Butler County that grinds buckwheat into flour -- I learned about buckwheat pancake season. It begins shortly after the fall harvest of the grain in October and runs through April.

During those months, some restaurants in the region and at least one farmers' grange offer sourdough-style buckwheat cakes as a seasonal specialty. The colder months also seemed like a good time to experiment with recipes at home.

We tried three different types, and only one called for pure buckwheat flour.

Buckwheat is an acquired taste. Food writers use words like "rich," "earthy," "assertive," and "nutty" to describe it. It is high in protein and gluten-free, meaning foods made with buckwheat can be eaten by people with wheat allergies.

An important American crop in the 18th and 19th centuries, buckwheat has faded in popularity.

But it is still an important food source in other parts of the world. It's the main ingredient in Japanese soba noodles, and some Eastern Europeans eat buckwheat grouts -- the hulled seeds of the buckwheat plant -- in a side dish called kasha.

Cookbooks and an Internet search turned up a variety of options for making buckwheat cakes.

Many recipes call for -- and store-bought mixes contain -- a combination of buckwheat and wheat flours.

Recommended leavening agents include yeast, eggs, baking powder and baking soda. Sweeteners, used to cut the aftertaste and feed the fermentation that makes the batter sour, include sugar, brown sugar or molasses.

The resulting pancakes differed both in taste and texture. Those made with water were flatter and chewier -- almost cracker-like, according to my son. The combination of buttermilk and yeast seemed to produce the highest-rising griddle cakes.

The central question at our house when we try a new recipe is some version of "Would you want to eat this again?"

I was alone in pulling for the 100-percent buckwheat recipe.

My daughter, Sarah, favored a less sour, flatter pancake, made with a mix of buckwheat, regular flour and a quarter cup of melted butter.

My mother-in-law, Betty, thought both the batter and resulting pancakes were too thin. My wife thought the result was too greasy. Everyone agreed that the pancakes made with the Zanella mix and buttermilk were tasty, but I didn't think they had enough flavor.

Those who don't want to experiment at home with buckwheat options can find a few places that make traditional sourdough cakes.

They include the Johnson Sisters Cafe, Route 422, just east of New Castle, and the Mount Nebo Grange in Ohio Township.

Pat Rudy, chief cook for the grange's pancake breakfasts, uses a recipe that calls for buttermilk, water, yeast, sugar and pure buckwheat flour. The breakfasts are held in the grange hall in Ohio Township on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month through April.

She makes up her buckwheat batter the Friday afternoon before the event and allows it to bubble away in a crock in the grange kitchen overnight.

"I hate 'em," Mrs. Rudy said of the buckwheat cakes. "But my husband, Carl, likes them. It's something you have to develop a taste for."

She is not alone in her preference. Volunteers at the grange breakfasts serve about three portions of regular pancakes for every serving of buckwheats, she estimates.

Dick Fogg, of Ross, meets his son, Dale Fogg, and granddaughter, Gabby, 4, both of Franklin Park, for pancakes at the grange about once a month. The men alternate between ordering buckwheat and regular pancakes.

"[Buckwheat pancakes] have a really strong aftertaste that is hard to describe," Dale Fogg said.

Gabby was game to try a piece of her dad's buckwheats recently, but she was not impressed. He recalled, "It was not love at first bite."

We cooked these recipes using a 20-year-old electric non-stick griddle that heats unevenly. The control was set for about 375 degrees, but the temperature and cooking times varied. Each recipe serves four healthy appetites.

-- Len Barcousky

Old-fashioned buckwheat cakes

PG tested

This recipe is adapted from the one found on a bag of Zanella Milling's pure buckwheat flour.

• 1 package dried yeast, dissolved in a few ounces of warm water
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 2 cups buckwheat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (to be added just before cooking)

• The night before you make the pancakes, proof the yeast with a few ounces of warm water. Then mix it and all the other ingredients, except for the baking soda, in a ceramic crock or a large bowl.

  Set in a warm place to rise overnight. (I put it in the refrigerator overnight, then set in on the radiator for an hour or so before making the pancakes.)

  The next morning add the half teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in a little water.

  Use about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on one side, then flip. They are best eaten right away, but can be kept warm in the oven.

  -- Zanella Milling

  Southern-style buckwheat pancakes

  PG tested

  Not much height in these pancakes. I did try keeping some warm in the oven and they got pretty chewy. People ate them plain, with syrup, with fruit preserves or sour cream.

  -- Len Barcousky

  • 1 cup buckwheat flour
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon active dry yeast (I used 1 envelope of yeast)
  • 2 cups warm water
  • 1/4 cup bacon drippings or butter (I used butter)
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

  
  
  

  Stir together flours, sugar and salt. Dissolve yeast in warm water, then stir into flour mixture. Stir in bacon drippings or butter.

  Let stand at room temperature 1 hour, then cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning stir in baking soda.

  Drop batter by tablespoonfuls onto hot greased griddle (I didn't grease the non-stick griddle after the first batch.)

  Cook until bubbles form around the edges, then turn and let brown on the other side. Serve hot.

  -- southernfood.about.com

  Zanella Milling buckwheat cakes

  PG tested

  This was the simplest recipe.

  These pancakes rose nicely and had a cake-like texture. I tasted a little bit of fine grit from the buckwheat but there was little or no bitterness. On the principle that almost everything tastes better with chocolate, my son added miniature chips to the batter ,which certainly made for a slightly messier cleanup of the griddle.

  The ingredients in the Zanella buckwheat mix we used was similar to those in other boxed mixes -- Bob's Red Mill and Hodgson Mill -- I found in several groceries.

  -- Len Barcousky

  • 2 cups pancake mix (contains buckwheat flour, wheat flour, baking soda, salt and calcium phosphate)
  • 2 cups buttermilk

  Combine mix and buttermilk in a crock or plastic bowl. Batter, which will be very thick, can be used immediately. I used about 1???4 cup for each pancake. Let cook about 2 to 3 minutes on each side.

  -- Zanella Milling

  Len Barcousky can be reached at lbarcousky@post-gazette.com or 724-772-0184.
  First published on March 12, 2009 at 12:00 am