Grizzly Pancakes with wild berries: Bears love them

Grizzly Pancakes with wild berries - they really do attract bears, hence the name we gave them. Grizzly Pancakes were one of the more exciting recipes we made during the camping trip, because they attracted some very large guests of the Ursine kind. 

We were camped in the middle of a lush wild blueberry and raspberry field at Tyaughton Lake, in the the Southern Chilcotin, British Columbia. You could basically reach out of the tent and snack on a sea of wild berries (we wouldn't normally camp in the equivalent of a fruit shop for bears but we had no choice as this was the designated site). We decided to use the berries in our buttermilk pancakes to liven them up a little.

When we made this recipe, a Grizzly sow and her two cubs decended on us as they couldn't resist the enticing smell of the pancakes.

The bear family ventured down about 20 metres away from our camp and sniffed the heady air for a few seconds but decided that perhaps it was better just to stick to plain berries for now. We were quite relieved.

** PLEASE NOTE:
Please be assured that we practice bear awareness whenever we are camping. We love bears, but have a very healthy respect for them.

We always cook away from our campsite, keep our site meticulously clean and keep all our food in designated bear caches.

We were camped at Tyax Lake Resort and these bears had been in the area for a couple of days before our arrival.

Sometimes it is impossible to avoid interaction with bears when you are in their territory. the important thing to do is to do everything you can to minimize such interactions and do not do anything to invite them.

It was merely a coincidence that they appeared when we were cooking brekkie that morning. They were there for the abundance of berries, not our pancakes.

We don't mean to be flippant about attracting bears into a campsite...it was just a coincidence that made a good story!       

Wild Berry Grizzly Pancake Recipe

Dry ingredients:
1 cup of unbleached flour
1/2 tsp of sea salt
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of baking powder

Other ingredients:
1.5 cups of buttermilk
1 large egg
3/4 cup of sour cream
1/3 cup of butter
1 cup of wild bluberries
1 cup of wild raspberries
Raspberry sauce or maple syrup for topping

Method:

1. In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients together well.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk, egg and sour cream. Add the dry mixture to this bowl and stir gently with a wooden spoon until the batter comes together.
3. Heat up a pan or griddle on a medium heat and add about 1 tsp of butter to the pan. Swirl the pan around to coat the base with butter.
4. Pour in about 1/2 a cup of the batter mixture into the pan and then gently push several blueberries and raspberries into the batter mixture.
5. Once bubbles start to appear on the surface of the pancake, flip it over gently with a spatula and cook the other side until golden brown.
6. Remove the pancake and repeat the process with the remaining batter.
7. To keep the pancakes warm, while cooking the rest of the batter put them on a plate and cover them with a lid or another plate.
8. Once ready, serve with a dollop of butter, raspberry sauce or maple syrup.

Enjoy...but keep an eye out for grizzlies.

Comments

[C]

Now wouldn't it have been horrible if something had happened to any of you and that mom and two cubs had to be killed because of your carelessness? Please. Use a little forethought before doing that again. It's for the bears you love so much! C'mon people!

[Patricia Scarpin]

I can see why the bears love these, they look delicious!

[Billiam]

"C" is lame. That is all.

[Tom]

To bears, I wonder if people taste like wild berry pancakes.

[itsandyw]

"C" needs to get a life.

[Ahona]

They look likr yummy pancakes! If I were a bear I'd want them too!!

[Kelley]

Those are not Blueberries but Huckleberries. I love Huckleberries!

[Stephanie]

OK... a question from a clueless Australian... isn't it terribly dangerous to be in such close proximity to the bears??

[Nic]

Hi, it's Nic here - Syrie's partner.

As it happens, we're Aussies too and Syrie is also moderately terrified of bears. But these kinds of fears are always overblown. Canadians harbour similar fears about Australian snakes, spiders and sharks.

We were camped in a Resort which is on the edge of a Provincial Park. Bears are very active in that area.

As a rule, bears don't have any desire to meet humans. There are two main categories of bear attacks. First, when a person gets between a sow and her cubs. Secondly, bears sometimes attack when you surprise them. For this reason, when you're hiking in the mountains, you should always call out and make a lot of noise - especially when you're coming around blind corners or when you're walking into the wind (as their smell is their best sense). Of course, when in their territory, we always carry bear (pepper) spray and bear bangers (little fireworks that make a loud pop).

Fortunately, the bears at Tyax Lake still have their fear of humans. So when this bear and her cubs realised that she had munched their way down into a human settlement, she promptly turned around. They were spotted a couple of days later about 50kms away in the Alpine.

Thousands of people camp in bear country every year without a problem. For most people (us included) seeing a bear in its territory is the highlight of the trip! Bears should be respected at all times, but not feared.