But where are you going to be making yours and what's your perfect pancake? 

Sometimes here at GAF on Magdalen Road we would like to think that we had actually invented the pancake, okay, well at least perfected it.

But it would seem that pancakes existed along time before we did, in-fact a long time before even the idea of brunch, or indeed meal times as a concept itself.

Analysis of starch grains on 30,000-year-old grinding tools suggest that Stone Age cooks were making flour out of cattails (wetland plants) and ferns – which, researchers guess, was likely mixed with water and baked on a hot, possibly greased, rock. Sounds familiar right? A flat cake, made from batter and fried on something hot....could this be the start of pancakes?

The ancient Greeks and Romans ate pancakes, sweetened with honey; the Elizabethans ate them flavoured with spices, rosewater, sherry, and apples. They were traditionally eaten in quantity on Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day, a day of feasting and partying before the beginning of Lent. 

Pancakes were a good way to use up stores of about-to-be-forbidden perishables like eggs, milk, and butter, and a yummy last hurrah before the upcoming grim period of church-mandated fast.

Here at GAF we don’t need an excuse for pancakes, they feature heavily on our Brunch menu and are one of the things we are fast becoming famous for! The most popular topping being the ever gluttonous Banana & Nutella. Mmmmm.

But with Pancake Day coming up, we had to dream up something a bit more manic, and bit more gluttonous and we have. Pancake Pandemonium, a day of celebrating the flat food that makes your mouth water.

A long debate took place before GAF opened back in August as to what shape our pancake should take, but it came down to the defining characteristic of the entire vast family of pancakes, however –from crepe to griddlecake, blini, bannock, and beyond – is flatness. 

“Flat as a pancake,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary, has been a catchphrase since at least 1611. Our pancakes are American in style, made with buttermilk and made every day.

Whatever form they take, one thing is for sure – everyone loves pancakes! So on Tuesday, February 28, we are throwing one big party in celebration – Pancake Pandemonium. With over 20 toppings, on three different bases including a chocolate brownie batter base and vegan base there is sure to be something that excites (and possibly disgusts) everyone. Relentless testing has commenced with the final line up being announced on Twitter over the coming week.

You’d think such madness constituted some kind of record, or at least an attempt at a record, well, you’d be wrong. With pancake records being beyond belief:

Largest pancake: The largest pancake was created in Rochdale, with it measuring 15.01m in diameter and 2.5cm (1in) thick, the pancake weighed three tonnes taking a JCB to flip that thing over.

Most tosses of a pancake in one minute: The fastest flipper may well be Australian celebrity chef notching up a so far unbeatable 140 flips in 60 seconds

Highest pancake toss: Dominic Cuzzacrea made a monumental flip measuring 9.47 m in New York, USA, in November 2010.

Bring on the gluttony, but don’t worry they’ll still be available the whole year, even during Lent.