Introduction
In the kitchen, sometimes measurements need not be so precise: a pinch of this, a dash of that, or the common phrase “to taste”. Ask any grandma how to make a family dish and I guarantee that while the ingredients and process are very specific, the measurements are not. Baking is the one exception to cooking. Baking is the art of precision and the reasoning behind the necessity of precision is simple math and some chemistry. The differences in technique, ingredients, and measurements can make a ball of dough for bread, or something that feels like a rock.
Every culture in the world has their version of the pancake. There’s the French crepe, Korean Pa Jun, Navajo abe neezmásí, Austrian Kaiserschmarrn, Australian Pikelets, South African Pannekoeke, Greek Tiganites, Japanese Okonomiyaki, Malaysian Apam Balik, Nicaraguan Manuelitas, Russian Olady, Ethiopian Injera, Venezuelan Cachapas, Dutch Babies, Salvadoran Pupusas, Colombian Arepas, North Indian Dosa, South Asian Roti, Danish Aebleskiver, Italian Farinata1, Filipino Bibingka, American Buttermilk Pancakes and family versions of all of these such as Rosa Parks’ “Featherlite Pancakes”2. But what do all of these pancakes have in common? They are all made up of a mixture of some sort of starch, fat, liquid, and other regional ingredients.
My family immigrated to this country from the Philippines, and I grew up eating pancakes from a boxed mixture. But what makes a pancake mix? Now, I don’t proclaim myself to be a chef. In fact, I only cook or bake out of necessity. Eating is more my thing. When it comes to eating, just like Goldilocks, I have my preferences on how I like my dishes, just right. Like many immigrant families, my family’s attempt at an American breakfast included pancakes. My family loves pancakes...from pancake mix. What ingredients make the pancakes just right?
The purpose of this unit is to bridge math and science concepts to examine the ratios in cooking pancakes around the world. This unit is aimed toward sixth grade students and will best work in a cored math and science block or in a self-contained classroom.
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