Cooking Tips:
A crêpe (also spelt crepe) is a thin
pancake, a meal made of wheat popular
throughout Europe and elsewhere. The common
ingredients include flour, eggs, milk,
butter and a pinch of salt. Crêpes are
usually of two types: sweet crêpes made with
wheat flour, and savoury galettes made with
buckwheat flour.
Crêpe originates from Brittany, a region in
the west of
France, where they are called krampouezh;
their consumption is nowadays widespread in
France. Buckwheat came to Europe from
China and also spread to Eastern Europe,
where a similar meal called blintz also
developed. In Brittany, crêpes are
traditionally served with apple cider. In
areas of Central Europe, the meal is called
palačinka (Czech, Slovak, Croatian and
Slovenian), Palatschinken (Austrian),
palacsinta (Hungarian), all these terms
being derived from Romanian plăcintă (Latin
placenta meaning "cake"). In most
German regions it's Pfannkuchen, in
Dutch pannenkoeken, derived from the words
"pan" and "cake".
The liquid mash is poured onto a hot frying
pan, often with a trace of oil spread out
evenly across the pan's surface. The thin
layer then thickens and needs to be flipped
at least once per piece so that it is fried
evenly on each side.
Serving
Crêpes may be rolled or folded, and filled
with different ingredients. Crêpes can be
eaten at any meal if they are salted, and
filled with
cheese,
asparagus, eggs, ratatouille,
mushrooms, or various meat products.
When they are sweet, they can be a dessert.
They can be filled with various other sweet
items:
jams, melted chocolate, dairy, ice
cream, berries, nuts,
poppy seeds, cinnamon etc. Popular sweet
toppings include sugar (granulated or
powdered), lemon juice, whipped cream, fruit
spreads, sliced soft fruits, etc.
A typical
French and Belgian crêpe is the Crêpe
Suzette, a crêpe with lightly grated orange
peel and liqueur (usually Grand Marnier)
which is subsequently lit.
It is also a fairly common practice to roll
or envelope them and then lightly fry, bake
or sautée them, not unlike blintz, whose
preparation is otherwise similar. |
Beat all
ingredients together. In hot, greased
skillet, fry a small amount of batter, just
enough to barely cover bottom of pan. When
edges begin to brown, carefully turn crepes
over; cook 30 seconds, turn out onto a dish
towel with browned surface up.
