Banana Pancakes and the (Un) Dating Game

I think I’ve finally figured out how dating works here.  It doesn’t.  In America, it is perfectly respectable to go on casual dates with different people, the premise being that one person will emerge as special and you’ll both decide you want to take it further and be exclusive.  Sounds sensible enough.  Not so here. 

In London, drinking leads to “pulling,” which leads to jumping into bed together, which leads to waking up several months later in said bed and realizing you are exclusive with someone you never really meant to be.  And so you have a lot of couples walking around without a clue about how they wound up in such a situation and petrified of getting out of it since dating is a foreign phenomenom in the first place.  Sadly, it means relationships often tend to, shall we say, overlap.

Gwyneth Paltrow once famously lamented the lack of dating in England, so you know the situation is dire.  The reason it doesn’t exist here is that dating is considered an American concept which amounts to hedging one's bets.  It also implies one must remain relatively sober.  Why bother?  By "hooking up," competition is eliminated.  When competition is eliminated, courtship does not need to exist.  Out goes the wining and dining, the flowers, the game.

As a single girl in New York, I had a little “me” ritual.  Every Saturday I’d treat myself to pancakes at the now defunct Veg City Diner on 14th Street.  Since diners here are as non-existent as dating, I’ve come up with another solution.  Faithfully, weekend in and weekend out, I make up these fluffy little numbers and top them with whatever fruit is in season.  Right now, it’s bananas.  The recipe might seem time consuming at first, but trust me, after a couple of weekends you’ll be making it with your eyes closed (often the case after a Friday night out in SoHo.)  It makes a perfect stack for one but is easily doubled.  So, if you should find yourself in the happy scenario of waking up with someone deserving of banana pancakes, you know what to do.

1/4 cup plain white flour
1/4 cup spelt flour
Dash sea salt
One handful well-chopped walnuts
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 free-range egg
2 tbsp Greek yogurt (not low fat!)
About 1/3 cup water
3 little pats of good French butter
1 Fairtrade banana
Lots of maple syrup

Mix all the dry ingredients together with a fork.  In a separate bowl, scramble the egg, then add the yogurt and the water.  Now combine everything, adding more water, if needed, to make a thick batter that will still pour easily. 

Heat a heavy non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add a pat of butter and tilt the pan around so the butter swirls and coats the bottom.  Pour some pancake batter in to make decently-sized circles and cook until bubbles start to form on top.  Flip it and cook the other side.  Repeat two more times, transferring each pancake to a plate lined with paper towel (to keep them from getting soggy.)  Meanwhile, slice the banana diagonally into thin slices.  Layer the bananas between the pancakes, drizzle on the maple syrup, and marvel about how on Earth you happen to be single.

Comments

[JRob]

LOVE Greek yogurt. Hard to find the right kind here, the kind that replicates the taste of last summer. Same for Greek honey, though that awesome New Zealand brand gives it a run for its money. How about some recipes using honey?

[Jess]

I am loving all the comments! All very touching from friends and family near and far. This is what it's all about. Thank you and please keep them coming. And excellent suggestion, Jamie. Stay tuned, sweets...!

[Brent]

Tara sent me here...

Too right about dating in London. I think Serpentine is a much better place to scope out potential mates... though I'm usually so high on endorphins and adrenaline after the runs that it's probably no different than being drunk.

And I'm totally with you on the pancakes. Giraffe has some of the only "American style" pancakes in London, so I usually go there on Sunday afternoon.

[Justin]

I knew you'd written something about pancakes at some point. I did the same on my blog today and linked to this post. Hope you're well!

[Samantha]

Hey, please check out my British blog - Experience - England (http://www.experience-dating.com/content/view/124/90/). The blog is for people from: London, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, and Coventry. It was a lot of work but I am very happy with it, I hope you guys like it!

[London Dating]

I have to say your comments about dating in London are absolutly spot on. I think people start to realise this a little later in life and by then they learn to take the time to find someone special who they want to be with as they know to well that just ending up with somone just plain dosent work.