Sunday, February 03, 2019

Crêpes

February second is la Chandeleur (Candlemas) on the French/Catholic calendar. For most people here, I think, it means crêpes, the traditional food for this day. The holiday's origins are pagan and Latin and it was, as many pre-Christian holidays were, appropriated and incorporated into the Catholic religion and assigned a significance in the Christmas/Easter narratives. We leave all that religious stuff aside and concentrate on the food!

The first lunch crêpe is served!

I like to make two kinds of crêpes for the day. For our main meal, we make traditional Breton crêpes, often called galettes. They're larger than the sweet crêpes I make, and they're made primarily with sarrasin (buckwheat flour). There is some all-purpose flour in the recipe I use, but it could be left out if you wanted a gluten-free crêpe.

Making the buckwheat crêpes, one at a time, in a rather large crêpe pan.

I make four large crêpes, two for each of us, and then freeze the leftover batter for another time. We line each crêpe with a slice of ham, some sauteed mushrooms, and grated cheese before folding them up like envelopes, but there's no end to the variety of fillings one can use. The folded crêpes go into a slow oven to warm through and melt the cheese. Two of these make a good main course, served with a green salad. For dessert I made a batch of traditional crêpes that we serve with jam or just plain with butter and sugar. I didn't take any photos of those yesterday.

6 comments:

  1. I like to make crepes, but have never tried to make the buckwheat ones. Maybe one day. They are good the way you made yours.

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  2. I love dessert crepes. One local place does a beautiful job. I recently enjoyed Nutella and fresh ginger ice cream. I'll bet yours are even better.

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  3. They look so delicious. You are making me hungry!!

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  4. It always makes me feel good to see your menu meals; they always look so elegant and delicious.

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  5. evelyn, I'm sure you can find buckwheat flour in many places these days.

    mitch, they're not bad, if I do say so myself. A good French recipe.

    michael, it's a great lunch and we enjoy it at least once a year, sometimes more!

    judy, it was!

    michael, we give it a good try. Today we're having pot-au-feu, a.k.a. boiled dinner.

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