Crempog

Crempog, or crempogau in the plural, is the traditional Welsh pancake, distinctively thick, soft and slightly sour, eaten on Shrove Tuesday, known in Welsh as Dydd Mawrth Ynyd. The Welsh pancake tradition predates the thin English pancake that became standard on Shrove Tuesday, and the crempog is structurally different, thicker, risen with buttermilk and bicarbonate of soda rather than thin and flat, and often enriched with butter and buttermilk in a way closer to American or Scottish drop scones. The dish belongs to the older Celtic tradition of grain-and-buttermilk bakes cooked on a bakestone or griddle, and the use of buttermilk, the soured byproduct of churning butter, reflects the dairy economy of rural Wales. Recipes vary across Wales, some crempog are made with a yeast-raised batter left to rise, others with a quick bicarbonate batter; the Anglesey crempog is notably rich, made with extra butter. Eaten hot with butter and treacle or golden syrup, the crempog remains a festive and family dish.

A thick, soft, pale-golden disc, slightly tangy from the buttermilk, with a tender crumb closer to a drop scone than a pancake, eaten hot and split with butter and golden syrup. Comforting, mild, faintly sour.

The crempog's characteristic thickness and soft crumb come from two leavenings working together. Buttermilk, soured by lactic acid bacteria, reacts with bicarbonate of soda to produce carbon dioxide that lifts the thick batter, the acid-base reaction also giving a faint tang. The batter is thicker than an English pancake batter, closer to a drop-scone or American pancake batter, and it is rested for about an hour so the flour fully hydrates and the gluten relaxes, producing a tender crumb. A portion of milk and butter is heated and stirred into the batter, the warm fat enriching it and keeping the cooked pancake soft. The crempog is cooked on a flat griddle or heavy pan, a ladle of batter poured and spread to a disc about 1cm thick, cooked slowly until bubbles form and the surface sets, then flipped once. The slow cook and thick batter give the soft, risen texture that distinguishes it from the thin, foldable English pancake.