Fluffy, buttery, soft and oh, so very reassuring — pancakes, for thousands upon thousands of years, have comforted humans in their time of need.
Deep in the stunningly preserved gut of Ötzi the Iceman, a 5,300-year-old archaeological discovery in Italy, researchers found remains of a primitive precursor to pancakes, a stomach-filling last meal which may have comforted the ancient human before he froze to death in a cave. Thousands of years later, Greek philosopher-doctor-writer Galen created a recipe for "teganitai" — literally, "pan cakes" — a precursor to what we today smother in butter and maple syrup.
And so it was, the year 2022, pancakes were again called upon to rescue the moods of weary, pandemic-worn folk in our little hamlet of San Francisco.
No, not just one pancake, or several, but more than 800 served hot, free of monetary recompense, for empty-bellied city dwellers waltzing through the Bernal Heights neighborhood, flipped by one Chef Curtis Kimball. He's the former owner of the now-defunct, but much-beloved, Creme Brulee Cart (it closed in 2016, according to Eater SF). His sudden need for flapjackery stirred after he felt nostalgic for human contact amid our ever-shifting pandemic distancing (a familiar feeling for the fortunate work-from-home types).
And with so much COVID-19 tumultuousness — masks flying off, masks strapping on, stores opening, stores closing, abundant confusion and way, way too much time inside (for some) — Kimball said serving up some warm comfort food felt like a great way to help his neighbors rekindle their neighborly tendencies.