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Sunshine Flapjacks (Jack Van Coevering writing)
Jack Van Coevering, writing in Everygirl, told us how to make pancakes from "powdered sunshine," the golden pollen of cat-tails. In late May or early June, when the cat-tail head is still in a thin green stalk, the staminate upper portion matures and is ready to release the golden pollen. Bend the cat-tail over and shake the head over a clean cloth or bowl and the pollen will fall out in great masses. You will have to paddle about among the cat-tails or wade out in hip boots to get it. The Indians collected it in their canoes and made it into bread. Here is the recipe for powdered sunshine flapjacks: 2 CUPS CAT-TAIL POLLEN 2 CUPS WHITE FLOUR 3 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER I TABLESPOON SUGAR 2 EGGS 11/2 OR 2 CUPS MILK 2 TABLESPOONS MELTED FAT OR BUTTER
The recipe is really two tasks: gathering the pollen, which is seasonal and fussy, and cooking a plain baking-powder pancake, for which no method is given.
- The harvest window is shortTypha sheds its pollen over a week or two per stand, and only from the slim upper spike above the female spike, which at that stage is still green rather than the familiar brown sausage. Once the upper spike has released its load it withers, and shaking it then yields little.
- How much you need to gatherTwo cups of clean pollen is a serious quantity — expect to shake several dozen heads, more in a thin stand. Bending each head into a wide bowl or a paper bag and tapping it is faster than shaking over a cloth outdoors, where any breeze takes the crop.
- Sift before you measureRaw pollen arrives with bits of anther, chaff and small insects. Pass it through a fine sieve or a doubled square of cheesecloth. It is bulky and very light, so measure by cup after sifting, not before.
- StoragePollen can carry moisture from the marsh and will not keep indefinitely. Spread it thinly to air-dry for a day, then keep it in a sealed jar in the freezer, where it should keep for several months.
- Salt is missingThe ingredient list has no salt. Half a teaspoon in the dry mix makes an obvious difference, as cattail pollen itself is bland and faintly sweet.
- No method is givenTreat it as a standard batter: whisk the dry ingredients, beat eggs with milk and melted fat, combine with a few strokes and leave the lumps. Start at the lower milk quantity the recipe allows and add the rest if the batter stiffens as it stands.
- Griddle heatA medium griddle, about 375F, lightly greased. The pollen browns quickly and the finished cakes come out distinctly yellow, which is the whole point of the name.
- YieldAbout sixteen to eighteen four-inch pancakes, enough for four to six people.
- One caveatThis is concentrated wind-borne pollen. Anyone with significant hay fever or a history of pollen-food reactions should treat a first taste cautiously, and gather away from ditches and field edges likely to have been sprayed.