Ever since I read about Edna Lewis's Sour-Milk Griddle Cakes on The Wednesday Chef I've been anxious to make them. Luisa, the blog's author, made them sound irresistible - going so far as to claim that they were her and her honey's new favourite breakfast no less - and her pictures only added to body of convincing evidence that I would soon be blogging similar praises.But it took me nearly a month to find out this would not be the case as the griddle cake recipe calls for cream of tartar and apparently there's a shortage of the stuff here in London.
For three weeks, I hunted for the slightly obscure cooking acid in every grocery store I entered, but to no avail. (Yet maddeningly, I kept coming across more recipes I wanted to make that required the ingredient, it was beginning to feel like mockery!).
Finally , the other day I came across the last pot of cream of tartar at the Canary Wharf Waitrose - along with a cute bottle of blackcurrant coulis that I thought would make for an appropriate accompaniment (on sale! a mere 75p! - and people wonder why I proselytize about the store...) Anyway, so I excitedly dashed home, and woke up earlier than I ever normally would the very next morning just to make these griddle cakes...
And?
Utter disappointment! Was my pan too hot? Was my wheat flour to dense? Did I measure something wrong? (Was I even really working with bona fide cream of tartar? Hmmm....) Not only did they not cook properly... the 'sour' taste boasted about in the recipes' title was more off-putting than something to brag about.
Ah well... You win some you lose some... Even though I'm sure I did something wrong, I won't attempt these griddle cakes again just to find out.
Behold... the lone cake that even slightly resembled Luisa's end-product.
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