Everything about Cr Pe totally explained
A
crêpe (French ) 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."
Origin
Buckwheat came to North America 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
Italy, it's
crespella. In areas of
Central Europe, the meal is called
palačinka (
Serbian,
Macedonian,
Czech,
Slovak,
Croatian and
Slovenian),
Palatschinken (in Austria),
palacsinta (
Hungarian), all these terms being derived from
Latin placenta meaning "cake"). A cognate of the word exists in
Romanian,
plăcintă, but it's actually more similar to a
quiche than to a
crêpe; the Romanian word for
crêpe is
clătită. In
Danish, it's
Pandekage, in most
German regions it's
Pfannkuchen, and in
Dutch it's
pannekoeken. 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.
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 an offset
spatula.
Common fillings for meal
crêpes include:
cheese,
asparagus,
ham,
spinach,
eggs,
ratatouille,
mushrooms,
artichoke (in certain regions), and various
meat products.
When they're 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.
Types and special crêpes
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 number of times
crêpes are folded, the same effect is often achieved, even with a single
crêpe.
Another standard
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 envelop them and then lightly
fry,
bake or
sautée them, not unlike
blintz, whose preparation is otherwise similar.
The batter of the original French
crêpe is usually made with white wheat flour when the
crêpe is served as a sweet
crêpe. It is made 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 a gluten
allergy or
intolerance 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.
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. There are also desert
crepes such as
crepes filled with hazelnut spread or filled with jam and powdered sugar.
Crêperies
A
crêperie may be a takeaway restaurant or stall, serving
crêpes as a form of
fast food or
street food, or may be a more formal sit-down restaurant or café.
Crêperies are typical of
Brittany in
France; however, crêperies can be found throughout France,
Europe, and even
Tokyo, the
United States and
Canada. In the Canadian province of
Quebec, crêperies are especially abundant because of the French influence.
Because a
crêpe may contain a variety of fillings, it can serve as both a main meal or a dessert. Savoury courses are usually served in the form of buckwheat
galettes. Crêperies may therefore be quite diverse in their selection and may make other baked goods such as
baguettes. They may also serve
coffee,
tea,
buttermilk and
cider (a popular drink to accompany
crêpes).
Crêpes in culture
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 avec
Crêpe Day, referring to the tradition of offering avec 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'd become rich that year.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Cr Pe'.
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