Yes, we do, we all love them! They are the crepes!

First, a little note on vocabulary.  We will agree here that crepes and pancakes are two very different things.  The first will refer to the very thin hot cake, originally from Brittany in western France. The second is the English thick version of the flat hot cake, generally served for breakfast.

Origin of the crepes

A quick look on various website will give you the history of crepes.  The word crêpe is French for pancake and is derived from the Latin crispus meaning “curled”.  Crêpes originated in Brittany (fr. Breton), in the northwest region of France, which lies between the English Channel to the north and the Bay of Biscay to the south.  Crêpes were originally called galettes, meaning flat cakes.

Around the 12th century buckwheat was introduced in Brittany from the east.  Buckwheat thrived on the desolate and rocky Breton moors and is called “sarrasin” or “blé noir” (black wheat) due to the dark specs that are often found in it.  Buckwheat is one of the plants of the polygonaceae family, which also includes rhubarb and sorrel.  It is high in fiber and is an excellent plant source of easily digestive protein and contains all eight essential amino acids.  Another benefit is that it is gluten free.

White flour crêpes appeared only at the turn of the 20th century when white wheat flour which formerly had been as expensive as sugar, honey or meat, became affordable.  White flour crêpes are as thin as buckwheat crêpes but softer as a result of the eggs, milk, and butter used to make them.

The above is from Monique’s Crepes.

Crepes nowadays

In France, crepes are generally made out of wheat flour.  In the southern part of Normandie and in Bretagne (Britany), buckweat is also used to make crepes, there are then called “galettes” and generally served with a savoury fill.  Note that buckwheat is gluten free.

Crepes recipes may vary between regions.  In the northern and eastern part of France, beer is often included in the batter, it does a great job at lightening the dough and makes very thin and delicious crepes.  Also, quite often, the dough does not have any sugar.

If you are making crepes (at home that is), you will need a crepe pan.  I have tried in other pans, I can tell you, it is not easy because of the high edges and because your pan must strictly be not sticky and not scratched.

Note that large non-stick (tefal or other) fry-pans are perfect to make galettes as you need them larger and the buckwheat galette is ticker making it easier to handle.

Filling for savoury crepes or galettes

Savoury

Galettes or savoury crepes are generally filled on demand.  The filling is placed on the galette when the galette is turned over while cooking, the filling ingredients are added and the four “corners” of the crepes pulled an folded towards the middle to contain the filling (you end up with a square shape).  The basic filling is a full egg, ham and cheese, but there are many variations.  Combinations of the following ingredients make a great galette:

• eggs
• tasty cheddar / gruyere type of cheese
• ham
• Mushrooms (often sliced and precooked)
• Bacon dices or “lardons” as known in France, precooked
• Cream
• sliced cooked potatoes

You can also use blue cheese (I personally love it in savoury gallettes), green asparagus, smoke salmon, salmon, tomatoes,…the list is endless!

SWEET

Sweet crepes are delicious when they remain simple! The most simple fillings are:

• white sugar with (optional) a dash of lemon juice (yum!)
• soft brown sugar
• jam
• honey
• lemon curd
• chocolate / Nutella.

One crepe recipe which became quite famous is “Crepes Suzettes”, this requires a little more work.

Many of you would have seen crepes filled and then folded in two and then further folded to form a triangle.  This is not the case everywhere.  In my family, we rolled them, much more fun especially when you are a kid!

   

And now the recipes

The recipe of the galette can be found HERE. This is my adopted recipe.

For the crepes, the recipe is quite different.  The recipe below calls for a resting time of 2 hours, if you don’t have that time in front of you, it will also work, the crepes will be thicker.  If you have no beer or prefer not to use beer, use water and milk.  Crepes are very forgiving in terms of ratios.  Careful not using only milk or your crepes will be brittle. If you increase the quantity of eggs, your crepes will be quite thick and filling.

Ingredients:

This will easily serve 4 people for dessert. Left overs can be covered and placed in the fridge.

• 500 g of plain flour
• 4 eggs (depending on size)
• 1 beer (300 ml)
• 1/2 cup oil (sunflower)
• 1/2 L milk
• water

Method:

1. Place the flour in a large bowl, make a hole (we all it a well in French) in the middle and place in it, the eggs, oil, beer and milk.
2. Mix with a whisk until smooth.  You may have a few small lumps, don’t worry to much at this stage.  The batter will be quite thick, you want to make it thinner by adding water, the consistency must be the one a drinking yogurt.

1. Let it rest for at least two hours.
2. Get yourself ready to cook, things can go quickly, get organised, everything must be in close reach.

1. To cook, use crepe pan (s).  Heat up the pan, when hot pour 2/3 of a ladle in the pan, by turning your wrist (while holding the pan), spread the batter over the bottom of the pan.  Pour out the excess if too really too much. Pop any bubbles if they form.
2. Cook until the sides are brown AND the bottom is fully dry (no wet spots), turn over, cook for a bit less.  Transfer to a plate.

Now 3 MAJOR tips:

• The first crepe if most of the time a write off (for the cook)
• If you pan needs a bit of greasing, cut a potatoe and stick the section cut at the end of a fork.  Place the flat edge in oil then “paint” the bottom of the fry-pan.  This method will limit the amount of grease you use and avoid using multiple absorbent paper sheets. If you have a piece of lard, it works perfectly well too.

  

• The heat under the fry-pan will need adjusting, somewhere between low and high.  It will take a few crepes to get there.