Pannukakku

Today I'm playing catch-up. I found the word in the title of my blog within this Youtube video. In it, Californians taste-test some Michigan foods, including Faygo soda, coney island hot dogs and beef pasties. The last thing they sample is something called a pannukakku. At first, I was a bit confused. I'm Michigander through-and-through, and I'd never heard of a pannukakku. Turns out it's a Scandinavian version of a pancake. The pannukakku certainly garnered the best reaction from the Californians. It made me want to run right out and get one, since it's apparently oozing deliciousness. The problem is, I didn't know where to run in order to obtain this elusive pastry. I did, however, have suspicions.

I scrolled through the comments below the post. There was no need to go very far. Others had posted rants similar to what I myself was thinking. We've been here all our lives, scarfing down Sanders hot fudge and Better Made potato chips. What the heck is a pannukakku? What's it doing among the Michigan standards? I wasn't alone in not being able to wrap my mind around the spongy body of the thing being devoured aggressively onscreen.

The answer became clear about three seconds before I reached the post explaining exactly why I'd never heard of a pannukakku (Like I said, I had my suspicions). Michigan has two parts (duh) the mitten and the amorphous blob we affectionately call the UP. The pannukakku hails from the upper peninsula! Sorry, guys, eh! It's not like I forgot about you, eh. It's just--well, how's the air up there? (Okay, I did forget about you, but it's only because you don't appear when I put out my hand to give directions.) 

What people from other states don't get is that the northern part of Michigan is pretty far removed from the lower half. Those guys are actually more akin to Wisconsin. Think of it this way: after watching five seasons of Breaking Bad in one week, I feel closer to the inhabitants of Albuquerque, New Mexico, than I do the UP-ers. You have to have a certain mindset to live in a place that isolated, and that mindset is as foreign to me as that exhibited in The Wolf of Wall Street. In short, I had no clue they were eating Finnish pancakes for breakfast.

Not that Californians would understand living in a gargantuan state where northern inhabitants have vastly different lifestyles than south-dwellers. Nah. Their experiences are completely unique.

Anyway, pannukakku is my new favorite word. No idea how to pronounce it. As for today's favorite word, it's muse. I'm off to sweet-talk mine.