After missing my opportunity to have crêpes in Nantes, I had to make up for it in Paris. Easy enough to do, some of the best crêpes in Paris can be found at La Crêperie Bretonne near Gare Montparnasse. This little restaurant makes traditional savory galettes and sweet crêpes.
First thing first, order a bottle of cider. Cider is the traditional drink to have with galettes and crêpes. It’s a bit different from US cider as the carbonation is a result of natural fermentation as opposed to forced carbonation during bottling. This yeilds a smoother drink. Oh, and you normally drink of out bolées.
Galette
I know that nearly everyone knows what a crêpe is, but what about the galette? The galette is the savory, salty version of the dessert crêpe. This thin pancake has it’s origins rooted in the traditions of a simple, cheap, poor man’s dinner. It is made with buckwheat flour, as the refined, white flour used is crêpes was not commonly available, and fewer eggs (or none). (The white flour and eggs were used by the likes of Marie “Let Them Eat Cake” Antoinette.)
The nutty flavors of the galette also help it stand up better to the various savory ingredients used. A galette “complète”, as I ordered mine, basically means it has egg, meat, and cheese wrapped in it for the meal. The final difference between the galette and the crêpe is simply the presentation. Galettes are normally folded into squares or rectangles, crepes are folded into triangles. The thicker filling of the galette doesn’t fold nicely into a triangle.
Flambéed Nutella Crêpe
The crêpes are what keep people interested. This one was a Grand Marnier flambéed Nutella crêpe. It’s kind of hard to see the fire in the picture, but the pale blue glow over it is the flame. Other varieties include the no-fuss butter-sugar crêpe (a fantastic classic) and the lemon crêpe (absolutely worth a try). But me, I’m all about the Nutella or the chocolate crêpes.
Granted, you can pick up a street crêpe at any street corner, but to get the real deal, stop by La Crêperie Bretonne.
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[...] mentioned a bit of the history when I reviewed La Crêperie Brettonne from my Paris trip. Crêpes and galettes are a traditional Breton dish from the north-west of [...]