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.