Today, it was my turn again to share a bit of French culture with my group. One of my favorite things in France is crêpes, which everyone calls pancakes in English, even though they’re quite different! Our crêpes are much thinner than pancakes. First, the batter itself is almost liquid, which surprised Yang! Second, unlike pancakes, crêpes don’t contain baking powder.
We celebrated La Chandeleur, originally a Christian religious holiday, held every year on February 2. In preschool, we also make crêpes on this day, but typically it’s more of a family tradition. There’s even a custom where you hold a “LOUIS D’OR” in your left hand while flipping the crêpe with your right hand. Louis d’or is a French gold coin minted between 1640 and 1792, is said to bring financial prosperity for the coming year if the crêpe lands perfectly flat in the pan.
We started by preparing the batter, which only took about 10 minutes, but cooking them was the longest part. We then tried flipping the crêpes to follow tradition. Unfortunately, after claiming I was great at it, I failed in front of everyone. Shame on me! Luckily, the others did great, despite being nervous at first.
Next came the best part : tasting! We only made sweet crêpes today, following tradition. Over time, though, crêpes have evolved to include savory varieties with ham, cheese, and béchamel sauce. Since I had some cheese on hand, they tried a savory crêpe too. I was pleased because Minju and Yang had eaten crêpes before but never made them, so now they can try at home! Emese was more familiar since Germany also has a type of crêpe, though thicker than the French ones. We had tried them during our German cooking session. She mentioned that in Germany, they often top crêpes with apple compote, which is unusual in France where we prefer sugar, Nutella, or jams like quince or strawberry. In Finland, they also make thicker crêpes and top them with apple compote and red berries. I had the chance to try this during a school outing, and I was quite surprised!
I also explained to Yang the difference between crêpes and galettes. When he was in France, he saw many crêperies, but they actually serve galettes and no crêpes. Personally, I don’t like galettes because they’re too strong for me. Galettes are always savory and usually have more elaborate things than just ham, cheese, and béchamel. They’re made with buckwheat flour, giving them a distinct taste. So, be careful when visiting France! To my knowledge, you won’t find any restaurants serving savory crêpes it will always be galettes; you’ll only see stands offering sweet ones.
We celebrated La Chandeleur, originally a Christian religious holiday, held every year on February 2. In preschool, we also make crêpes on this day, but typically it’s more of a family tradition. There’s even a custom where you hold a “LOUIS D’OR” in your left hand while flipping the crêpe with your right hand. Louis d’or is a French gold coin minted between 1640 and 1792, is said to bring financial prosperity for the coming year if the crêpe lands perfectly flat in the pan.
We started by preparing the batter, which only took about 10 minutes, but cooking them was the longest part. We then tried flipping the crêpes to follow tradition. Unfortunately, after claiming I was great at it, I failed in front of everyone. Shame on me! Luckily, the others did great, despite being nervous at first.
Next came the best part : tasting! We only made sweet crêpes today, following tradition. Over time, though, crêpes have evolved to include savory varieties with ham, cheese, and béchamel sauce. Since I had some cheese on hand, they tried a savory crêpe too. I was pleased because Minju and Yang had eaten crêpes before but never made them, so now they can try at home! Emese was more familiar since Germany also has a type of crêpe, though thicker than the French ones. We had tried them during our German cooking session. She mentioned that in Germany, they often top crêpes with apple compote, which is unusual in France where we prefer sugar, Nutella, or jams like quince or strawberry. In Finland, they also make thicker crêpes and top them with apple compote and red berries. I had the chance to try this during a school outing, and I was quite surprised!
I also explained to Yang the difference between crêpes and galettes. When he was in France, he saw many crêperies, but they actually serve galettes and no crêpes. Personally, I don’t like galettes because they’re too strong for me. Galettes are always savory and usually have more elaborate things than just ham, cheese, and béchamel. They’re made with buckwheat flour, giving them a distinct taste. So, be careful when visiting France! To my knowledge, you won’t find any restaurants serving savory crêpes it will always be galettes; you’ll only see stands offering sweet ones.
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