Jim Dixon wrote about food for WW for more than 20 years, but these days most of his time is spent at his olive oil-focused specialty food business Wellspent Market. Jim’s always loved to eat, and he encourages his customers to cook by sending them recipes every week through his newsletter. We’re happy to have him back creating some special dishes just for WW readers.

A few years ago, archeologists in Iraq unearthed what may be the oldest leftover meal ever discovered, and it was some kind of pancake. Most likely the pancake was not the cottony version that you eat at breakfast topped with butter and syrup, but something that made the tough berries of wild grain easier to eat.

Pancakes have historically been poor peoples’ food. Just take something starchy, pound it into a flourlike meal, add liquid, and cook on anything from a hot rock to an iron griddle to a flat board tilted toward fire. The thin batter not only makes the cakes cook faster, but it works with all of the not-wheat flours that don’t really lend themselves to leavened breads.

The little round cakes could be stuffed into a pocket for travel, and America’s original pancake—a rather bland cornmeal and water version made by Indigenous people—was actually called a journeycake, later mutating into johnnycake (a likely mispronunciation that stuck). Enslaved Africans adopted the technique to make food that could be carried into the fields.

Pancakes can be found in slightly different forms across the globe: from fluffy baked Dutch babies to Korean buchimgae to potato latkes to Indonesian serabi kuah, which is colored bright green from pandan.

These corn cakes break from tradition with the addition of rice flour. Mochiko, aka glutinous or sweet rice flour, is loaded with a type of starch called amylopectin. It retains moisture and makes the corn cakes fluffy and tender, and the starch also helps with the browning known as the Maillard reaction, a flavor-enhancing bit of physical chemistry.

Eastern European blinis topped with sour cream inspired the topping. The spicy chili crisp contrasts with the cool yogurt, and a sprinkling of fresh mint adds another cooling element. But little pancakes make great vehicles for all kinds of toppings. My arsenal of spready, diplike things includes caponata, tahini yogurt, peanut romesco, spicy green sauce, Bobbie’s Boat Sauce, or any of the other condiments living in my refrigerator. And you can always go sweet with just plain maple syrup or some good jam and yogurt.

While the corn cakes are good warm, I like them even more at room temperature, which makes them a great party food that can be prepared ahead of time. I like to add a little sugar to the batter because it enhances the corn flavor, but you can leave it out if you think it’s evil.

And a note about cornmeal: Most cornmeal goes through high-speed metal rollers, then the germ and hull are removed to make it shelf-stable; the germ contains oils that can become rancid fairly quickly. But whole grain cornmeal tastes so much better and it’s worth seeking out. Wellspent Market bought most of the Ayers Creek Farm corn when Anthony and Carol Boutard retired last year, and Anthony gave us his small stone mill, so we can grind small amounts. The dry kernels can last years, but once ground the cornmeal should be used within a few months or stored in the freezer. Here are a few other sources:

Lonesome Whistle Farms (Portland Farmers Market at PSU Saturdays): lonesome-whistle.com

Camas Country Mill: camascountrymill.com

Fairhaven Mill: fairhavenmill.com

Anson Mills: ansonmills.com

Mochiko Corn Cakes with Chili Crisp Yogurt and Mint

Corn Cakes

3/4 cup whole grain cornmeal

3/4 mochiko, aka sweet rice flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher-style sea salt

2 teaspoons sugar, optional

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 ear sweet corn

Extra-virgin olive oil for cooking

A handful of fresh mint, chopped

Use a knife to slice the kernels from the corn. (The kernels have a tendency to fly around, so be prepared to pick a few off the floor.)

Mix together the cornmeal, mochiko, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs and mix well, then stir in the buttermilk and corn kernels.

Add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a heavy skillet, heat it over medium-high, and use a spoon to drop the batter into the oil. A big spoonful makes a pancake about 3 inches in diameter, and that’s what I shoot for.

Cook a few at a time, leaving yourself room to get under the pancakes to flip them after about 4 minutes or until they’re nicely browned. Turn them over and cook the other side, then move to a plate. You’ll probably need to add olive oil for each batch.

Serve warm or at room temperature topped with the chili crisp yogurt and a sprinkle of chopped mint.

Chili Crisp Yogurt

1-2 tablespoons chili crisp

1 cup Greek-style yogurt

Mix the chili crisp into the yogurt.