Crêpe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A crêpe (pronounced IPA /kreɪp/, French /kʀɛp/) is a type of very thin cooked pancake usually made from wheat flour. The word, like the pancake itself, is of French origin, deriving from the Latin crispa, meaning "curled".
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[edit] Description
Crêpes are popular throughout Europe, and in some other parts of the world. The common ingredients include flour, eggs, milk, butter and a pinch of salt. Crêpes are usually of two types: sweet crêpes (crêpes sucrées) made with wheat flour and slightly sweetened, and savoury galettes (crêpes salées) made with buckwheat flour and unsweetened. While crêpes originate from Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, their consumption is nowadays widespread in France. It is said that crêpes were born in this region because they couldn't grow enough wheat to bake bread due to the poor land.
Buckwheat came to Europe from Southwest Asia and also spread to Eastern Europe, where a similar meal called blintz also developed. In Brittany, crêpes are traditionally served with cider. In areas of Central Europe, the meal is called palačinka (Serbian, Czech, Slovak, Croatian and Slovenian), Palatschinken (in Austria), palacsinta (Hungarian), all these terms being derived from Romanian plăcintă (Latin placenta meaning "cake"). Interestingly, an actual Romanian "plăcintă" is actually more similar to a quiche than to a crepe, and the Romanian word for crepe is clătită. In Danish it's Pandekage, in most German regions it's Pfannkuchen. In Dutch pannenkoeken, derived from the words for pan and cake. The Polish version is called naleśniki. In the Spanish region of Galicia, they're called "filloas", and may also be made with pork blood instead of milk.
[edit] Preparation
Crêpes are made by pouring a thin liquid batter onto a hot frying pan or flat circular hot plate, often with a trace of butter or oil spread out evenly across the pan's surface. The batter is spread evenly over the cooking surface of the pan or plate either by tilting the pan or by distributing the batter with a special spatula. The thin layer then thickens and needs to be inverted at least once so that it cooks evenly on both sides.
[edit] Serving
Crêpes may be rolled or folded, and filled with different ingredients. Common fillings for meal crêpes include cheese, asparagus, ham, spinach, 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: jam, melted chocolate, dairy, ice cream, Nutella (a chocolate and hazelnut paste), bananas, berries, nuts, poppyseeds, cinnamon etc. Popular sweet toppings include sugar (granulated or powdered), maple syrup, lemon juice, whipped cream, fruit spreads, sliced soft fruits, etc.
A more elaborate 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.
In France, crêpes were traditionally served on Candlemas (La Chandeleur), February 2. This day was originally Virgin Mary's Blessing Day but became known as Crêpe Day, referring to the tradition of offering crêpes. It is believed that if you could catch the crêpe with a frying pan after tossing it in the air with your left hand and holding a piece of gold on your right, you would become rich that year.
In Northern Spain, in the regions of Galicia and the Principality of Asturias crêpes are also a traditional dessert. In Galicia they are called filloas, whereas in Asturias they are known as frixuelos.
In southern Germany, a soup called Flaedle is made from sliced coils of rolled-up savoury crepes.
In some Malaysian cities, as a result of the new malay-franco fusion culture emerging, the crêpe has begun appearing in unexpected forms. Among these is the use of the crêpe as a seal around the fragrant durian. In Serbia, apart from regular restaurants and home preparation, crepes are sold as fast food in the streets in shops populary known as "palachinkarnice". Dosa is kind of savoury crêpe very popular in South India. It is made from a fermented rice and lentil batter.
The worlds largest crepe, measuring 7 feet in diameter, was made and eaten by Sofia Romanowski on February 20th, 2007 at The Marina, a retaurant in Tallahassee Florida.
[edit] Mille Crêpe
Mille Crêpe is a French cake made of many crêpe layers. "Mille" ("mil") means " a thousand," implying the many layers of crêpe. However, due to the amount of times crepes are folded, the same effect is often achieved, even with a single crepe.
[edit] Crêpes for special diets
The batter of the original French crêpe is usually made with white wheat flour, when the crêpe is served as a sweet crêpe, and with buckwheat flour, when the crêpe (rather called "galette") is served as a savoury crêpe. A batter made of 100% buckwheat flour is gluten-free. This makes it possible for people who have allergy or intolerance to gluten, to eat crêpes/galettes (as long as the other ingredients of the dish are gluten-free, too, of course).
It is also possible to make crêpes without eggs, and crêpes without milk.
[edit] Bodybuilder's Crêpe
A common recipe practiced among bodybuilders is what is called a 'Bodybuilder's Crêpe', traditionally made with whey protein powder, flavoring, egg white, and other popular ingredients such as cottage cheese, oats, and peanut butter. They are prepared the same way as normal crêpes are, but can sometimes cook much faster.
