'n all things nice!
'n all things nice!
Any fan of Julia Child will know that butter makes everything tastes divine. And, across the pond here at Ashbourne foods, our heavenly all butter flapjacks most definitely live up to this statement.
The word “flapjack” is recorded as having been used as early as the beginning of the 16th century, according to the trusty Oxford English Dictionary. However, at that time, there is strong evidence to suggest that the word would have referred to a pancake or a flat tart. The "flap" part of flapjack dates back to the 1300s when "flap" was used in place of "to flip." It is uncertain as to what the "jack" in flapjack means, but it is often speculated to refer to the small size of a flapjack as "jack" was used to refer to something that was smaller than normal.
Rather fittingly, 2016 being the 400th year anniversary of his death, Will Shakespeare refers to “flap-jacks” in Pericles, Prince of Tyre:
"Come, thou shant go home, and we'll have flesh for holidays, fish for fasting-days, and moreo'er puddings and flap-jacks, and thou shalt be welcome."
Act II Scene I
Much later, the word “flapjack” was used to describe something similar to an apple flan. However, it was not until 1935 that the word was first used here in beautiful Blighty to describe a food made of oats, mostly replacing other associations with the word. This is not quite the case with our Northern American cousins, who refer to a flapjack as a pancake. But we are united in the fact that for Will Shake to the Speare, it was a common English dessert. Although we dare say that there is nothing common about our flapjacks!
“With the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.” Julia Child