The Film:
The Dish:
Makes 6-8 pancakes- serves 2-3
The Reason:
“There’s so much of “place” in the world. There’s less time because the time has to be spread extra thin over all the places, like butter.” The world can be an overwhelming place. Particularly if you’ve spent the first five years of your life cocooned in ‘Room’ – a shed with a skylight, where the only person who knows the combination to the door is ‘Old Nick’. In the first 37 hours in the outside world our protagonist Jacob has seen pancakes, and a stairs, and birds, and windows, and hundreds of cars. And clouds, and police, and doctors, and grandma and grandpa. These are not the pancakes that Jacob first discovered in hospital- but they are the sort that his devoted mother Joy (Brie Larson) would probably make for him for breakfast. They’re made with well meaning wholemeal flour. They’re topped with sweet and gently spiced butter (which you can spread as thick as you like) and decorated with two intertwined slices of fresh pear (not tinned like those you had to beg for in ‘Room’). You may find an extra dose of egg in these pancakes- for one it’s additional protein- helpful for growing bodies. But it’ll also gift you a couple of extra shells to devote to your egg-snake-under-the-bed – just in case all of the toys available in the outside world lose their appeal and you want to return to some of Ma’s inventive home-spun distractions.
The Way:
Wholemeal Pancakes with Maple Butter and Pears
Makes 6-8 pancakes- serves 2-3
Ingredients
Pancakes
120 grams/ 1 cup of wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
250 ml/1 cup of milk
2 eggs, beaten
Maple butter
1 tbsp maple syrup
50 g butter
1 tsp cinnamon
To serve; segments of pear, additional syrup
Method
1 To make the maple butter blend together the butter, syrup and cinnamon in a small blender or food processor. Transfer contents to a piece of baking parchment and roll into a small log, twisting the ends of the paper like a bon bon. Transfer to the freezer to set.
2) Whisk together the dry ingredients, then whisk in the wet until you have a loose batter. Allow to stand for 10 minutes.
3) Grease a medium frying pan with a little extra butter and portion in a ladle-full of batter. Swirl the pan and allow to cook over a medium heat until you see tiny bubbles in the centre of the pancake. Gently lift the sides with a spatula and flip. Cook the other side for a minute or so, until you can see the bottom is also brown. Remove from pan and transfer to a plate in a low oven to keep warm while you make the remaining pancakes.
4) Stack the pancakes and top with a slice of the maple butter, some wedges of pear and drizzle with a little additional syrup.
