Dan Richardson, New Westminster Salmonbellies
Dan Richardson is the president and general manager of the New Westminster Salmonbellies senior A lacrosse club.
He shared with us a family recipe.
Dan writes: "My family is half Finnish on my mother's side. My grandparents come from Lahti, Finland and my grandmother or Aiti (Finnish for mother), on special occasions like Christmas, would always make us Finnish pancakes, which are like crepes.
"You roll them up like sausage rolls and serve them with maple syrup.
"Aiti would make a very large batch of Finnish pancakes and have them ready for my brothers and myself.
"Of course, she never measured anything; it was a little of this and a little of that, but here is what works.
"She was a longtime New Westminster resident - her house used to be on the corner of Eighth and Chilliwack but has since been replaced by a new house."
Aiti's Finnish Pancakes (Crepes)
3 cups of flour
2 tbsp. of sugar
1 tsp. of baking powder
1 tsp. of salt
4 cups of milk
4 eggs
4 tbsp. of butter
1 tsp. of vanilla
Makes 15 to 20 pancakes
You need a cast iron crepe pan, and it needs to be very hot, "none of this teflon crap," writes Dan.
Mix all your ingredients, by hand or in a blender - it will be very runny compared to traditional pancake batter.
Pour a very small amount, like a half cup, into centre of pan, and then lift pan off of heat and manipulate the pancake mix so that it covers the entire pan. It will be paper thin, return to heat.
Pancakes will only take 20 to 30 seconds per side.
"Aiti would have a pot of boiling water on the stove with a dinner plate on the boiling pot, and she would start stacking up the pancakes on the hot plate so she could make a bunch in advance.
"You take one at a time, roll them up on your plate like a sausage roll, and cover with your favourite maple syrup, which she usually made from scratch, and there is nothing better.
"No fancy fillings or anything else, just the Finnish pancakes and syrup. My brothers and I have all learnt how to make Aiti's pancakes, and now all our children want the Finnish pancakes on special occasions, so the Finnish tradition carries on," Dan writes.
Enjoy.
