Lovely Galettes de Sarrasin Buckwheat Pancakes are Gluten Free
I’ve been racking my brains (such as they are) to think of a good idea relating to pancakes for Shrove Tuesday, and I’ve thought of something entirely yummy, worthwhile and useful to write about which is also relevant – Galettes de Sarrasin buckwheat pancakes.
I ate these wonderful Breton buckwheat pancakes years ago when in France and then promptly forgot about them till a recent trip where a scallop and leek galette I dined on in Quimper, Brittany was one of the finest meals of my life.
Galettes de Sarrasin are crèpe type pancakes, similar to those my Mummy served on Pancake Day, and not at all similar to American style thick fluffy pancakes. They have a lovely light and crisp texture, a delicious nutty flavour and, as a bonus, they are gluten free!
I decided to try and reproduce my wonderful meal, made my own Scallop and Leek Galettes and they worked a treat. The only thing missing was the lovely sunshine, the pretty little walled town and my good friend Carol. Apart from that – perfect!
Galettes de Sarrasin Buckwheat Pancakes
Makes about 6 pancakes depending on your pan
100g buckwheat flour
pinch of salt
1 egg
300ml milk
50g butter – melted
~ Stir together the salt and the flour and make a well in the middle.
~ Break the egg into the well and start whisking it in gradually adding the milk till a batter the consistency of single cream is achieved.
~ Chill for a couple of hours then stir in the melted butter.
~ Proceed to make pancakes as per usual, ie. lightly grease a frying pan, bring to good heat and ladle in about 2 tablespoons of batter.
~ Roll the pan to spread the batter thinly and cook till the underside is golden.
~ Turn with a deft flip of the wrist or more carefully with an implement.
The Scallop and Leek Recipe is here.
These buckwheat pancakes are also excellent with the traditional sugar and lemon of our childhoods and lend themselves to pretty well any filling you can dream up, savoury or sweet including, of course, delicious leftovers.
The normal crèpe recipe my Mum used is pretty well the same as the buckwheat recipe above but with plain flour instead of buckwheat and maybe a tad more milk.
See here for all sorts of pancake recipes.
And here is a picture of an enormous Caramel Crèpe I ate a while back. As it happens this was in France too, it’s quite nice there!
Although today is known throughout Britain as Pancake Day it is, of course, Shrove Tuesday and is particularly associated with pancakes as they are an ideal way to use up sugar, eggs, milk etc. that we will, of course, be spurning for the next 40 days of Lent.
Happy Pancake Day!
Suzy Bowler
Having been a somewhat itinerant chef for over 30 years I was amazed, on my return to the UK, at the blatant food waste that now seems to be rife in the country; amazed and irritated. So much so that I decided to start a blog about spontaneous cooking from leftovers to show people that there are great alternatives to throwing food away.
One Comment
Wendy Percival
A gluten-free 'real' pancake, Suzy! Thank you, you're a star. I shall give them a go.
And daughter loved her copy of The Leftovers Handbook btw!