Traditional French Crepes

Crepes originated as Galettes, which were used by the Bretons as a substitute for bread. A Galette did not resemble the image we have of Crepes today, as buckwheat, known as black wheat to the Bretons was used, and thus gave the Galette a grey, oppposed to golden appearence.

Summer wheat would not grow on the cliffs of Brittany, but the black wheat flourished there, so the Bretons made use of it in the form of Galettes. These along with curdled milk and potatoes formed the staple diet of the Bretons, and when times were hard, there was absolutely nothing else to eat.

The grey flour taken from the black wheat was simply kneaded with water and salt to form a dough, which was then baked on hot stones to make Galettes.

Galettes are still around today, but instead of as a bread substitute, the recipe has been refined to that resembling the modern crepe recipe. A Galette is now simply known as a Crepe with a savoury filling.

Crepes are made from a batter mixture consisting of white flour, eggs, butter and milk. Often a shot of beer or cider is added to make the dough lighter and looser. They are then traditionally fried in hot fat in iron frying pans which distribute the heat evenly.

It was only in the mid 1800's that Crepes became popular. This was when haute cuisine was become ever more fashionable in France. Back then, Crepes were considered a dessert, not as a fast food or snack as they are today in France.

Today in Creperies, you will see the crepes being cooked on non stick crepe griddles. It's quite and art form watching these being prepared. See the video below for a professional demonstration.

One of the best things about Crepes is that once they are made, you can fill them with virtually any ingredient. As they work so well with both sweet and savoury fillings, the choices are endless. You can really let your imagination run wild when deciding what to have.

Ingredients for a batch of around 30 Crepes (adjust quantity accordingly for a smaller batch):

500g Plain Flour

6 Eggs

Peel of 2 unwaxed Lemons

3 tbs Sugar

100g melted Butter

1 litre Milk

Knob of butter

• Sieve the flour into a bowl and make a hollow in the center.
• Put the eggs, milk, lemon peel, sugar and melted butter into the hollow.
• Gradually mix ingredients together to make a runny batter.
• Allow the batter to stand at room temp for around 30 minutes, or better still, put it in the fridge for 10!
  

• Heat a knob of butter in a frying pan.
• Place a ladle of batter mix into the frying pan and distribute mixture evenly around the pan by swirling it.
• Place a small knob of butter on top of the batter and allow it to melt.
• Fry the crepe until it is a golden yellow colour on the bottom, with a few darker patches.
• Turn the crepe over and fry the other side.
• Stack the cooked crepes on a preheated plate.
• Continue the process until all the batter mix is used.
• Fold into crescents or quarters to serve.

Crepe Suzette is by far the most famous of crepes, though it's orgin stems from a cooking mistake!

The late British King Edward VII was a great admirer of France and rated the French most highly. As was fasionable around the turn of the 19th century, he would spend winter on the Cote d'Azur. One day he invited Suzette, a French lady whom he was courting, for dinner. When the Crepes were being prepared for desert, the orange liqueur caught fire by mistake. This created the flambeed technique we now know of. The chef decided that he would serve his mishap to the Prince and his lady companion, and claim it as a new creation he had come up with. The then Prince of Wales loved this new creation and thus christened the mishap gone good 'Crepe Suzette' after his lady guest.

Crepe Suzette Recipe By Gordon Ramsay

Crepes Au Sucre

The classic amongst crepes; sprinkled only with sugar and a little lemon juice.

Crepes Aux Confitures

Spread with jam and rolled up.

Crepes Aux Marrons

Spread with sweet chestnut paste and rolled up.

Crepes Bretonnes

A plain crepe with the batter containing buckwheat flour and rum.

Crepes Fourrees

Filledwith custard and raisins, and dried fruit soaked in rum.

Crepes Georgette

A plain crepe folded around a slice of pineapple.

Crepes Soufflees

A small amount of souffle (preferably praline) is wrapped inside the crepe and then the crepe is placed into a low heated oven for around 15 minutes.

Crepes Suzette

The basic crepe batter is enhanced by adding mandarin juice and flambeed bitter orange liquer.

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