There’s no wrong way to enjoy cheese. It’s just a matter of how you’ll do it today. Will it be sauce, melted between bread, or straight from the fridge? If I may, I’d like to encourage you to partake in the crispiest, chewiest, most toasted version of cheese–frico. But not just frico as a stand-alone crisp; instead, griddle it straight onto your pancakes for a breakfast bread unlike any other.
The frico pancake is a playful expression of opposites. The flavors of slightly sweet pancake batter and salty, toasty cheese, paired with a thin, brittle crust encasing a fluffy, light interior make this a snack you’ll keep coming back to.
Frico is when you take cheese past the point of melted and over to where it browns and crisps into a cracker of pure euphoria. It’s the perfect example of exactly how transformative cheese can be, both molecularly and emotionally. Making a frico crisp is extraordinarily simple, you can riff on them, and even wrap things inside of a big frico blanket. I enjoy pushing the limits to find out what foods I can embed frico into, like a frico-bottomed pan pizza, which is incredible and you should do it—but pancakes are decidedly easier and can be delightfully spontaneous.
To frico your pancakes you’ll need to whip up your favorite pancake recipe and have a bag of shredded parmesan on hand. In a non-stick skillet over medium-low heat with no oil or butter, sprinkle a pinch of the shredded cheese. You want to make a circle of cheese that is slightly bigger than the final pancake size you want to end up with. Use as much cheese as you need to achieve that size. Wait for the cheese to begin to melt, then add pancake batter directly on top of the melting cheese, stopping a half-inch shy of the frico border to allow for rising.
In typical pancake fashion, wait for the edges of the pancake to hold dry bubbles, and for the center to have slightly wet batter with active bubbles before you flip, about two minutes. Sprinkle another heavy pinch of shredded parmesan onto the pancake and flip it over. Allow the second side to cook for one to two minutes or until the frico layer is crisp, and nicely browned. Cool on a wire rack and serve.
I recommend making frico with a shredded, hard cheese because it won’t burn as quickly. I tried with shredded, low-moisture mozzarella and the cheese started charring at a startlingly quick rate. I still ate the pancake, and it was great in its own way because the outside bits blackened but the mozzarella layer directly underneath was stretchy and melty. The trouble is the pancake was on the brink of being undercooked to prevent the cheese from becoming actually inedible. Parmesan can withstand high temperatures for much longer without burning, and you can be sure your pancake batter is cooked.
Parmesan is complementary to a host of ingredients, so you can enjoy your frico pancakes stacked sweet or savory. Try it with layers of bacon and eggs, or pile them high with fresh seasonal berries and syrup. It’s also a rather fine snack. Have fun with your new way to cheese.