Pâte à crêpes

The pâte à crêpes is the thin, pourable batter of the French kitchen, and it belongs to the long tradition of griddle cookery in the north and west of the country, above all Brittany and Normandy. Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck set it down in Mastering the Art of French Cooking as a foundation batter, to be made ahead, rested and then turned into both savoury and sweet preparations. It is carried today by the home kitchen and the crêperie alike, and by the classical repertoire in which crêpes serve as wrappers, layers and desserts.

The batter is made of plain wheat flour (Triticum aestivum), eggs, milk, water, melted butter and a little salt, with sugar and a spirit such as rum or cognac added when the crêpes are destined for dessert. The proportions are fluid, so that the batter coats the back of a spoon in a thin film and runs freely across the pan. Child, Bertholle and Beck blend the ingredients smooth, then rest the batter so that the flour hydrates and the gluten relaxes. It is cooked in a thin layer on a hot, lightly buttered pan, turned once, and yields a supple, lace-edged disc that may be stacked, filled or folded.

The crêpe is eaten with sugar and lemon, with jam, with butter and Grand Marnier in the manner of crêpes Suzette, or filled with cheese, ham, mushrooms or a velouté-bound mixture for the savoury course. Its neutral, buttery character carries these fillings without competing with them. It is drunk with dry cider in Brittany and Normandy, where the acidity and light effervescence cut the butter and refresh the palate, and a sweet filling takes a lightly sweet sparkling wine for the same structural reason.