Galette

A savoury pancake of buckwheat and water with no milk and no egg in the batter, rested overnight and folded square round its filling.

Pork, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains gruyère whose rennet the source does not name, pork.

Ingredients

For the batter

• 250 g buckwheat flour
• 500 ml cold water, plus more to loosen
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 egg, optional, for a more pliable galette

For each galette

• 1 egg
• 1 slice cooked ham
• 40 g gruyère, grated
• butter, for the pan
• black pepper

Method

1. BUCKWHEAT AND WATER, WITH NO MILK AND NO EGG IN THE BATTER. That is what separates this from the crêpes on this site, which are wheat, milk, eggs and sugar. The result is darker, nuttier, slightly bitter and strong enough to hold a filling without tearing -- and because there is no sugar in it, it browns slowly and will take a much hotter pan.
2. THE BATTER IS RESTED OVERNIGHT, and twelve hours is not an exaggeration. Buckwheat has no gluten and hydrates slowly: used after an hour it is gritty and the galette tears when you fold it. Rested, it turns smooth and slightly slippery, and you can feel the difference in the bowl.
3. IT IS BEATEN HARD AT THE START, which is the opposite of a wheat batter. There is no gluten to toughen, so beating only helps: five minutes by hand develops the starch and gives the galette its stretch.
4. THE EDGES ARE FOLDED SQUARE AND THE YOLK STAYS WHOLE. Four folds in towards the middle, leaving the yolk showing. The egg goes on while the second side cooks so the white sets and the yolk does not.
5. Buckwheat flour and salt in a bowl, half the water poured in and beaten to a smooth thick paste with no lumps.
6. The rest of the water beaten in, then the whole thing beaten HARD for 5 minutes. It will lighten slightly.
7. Covered and left at room temperature 2 hours, then in the fridge OVERNIGHT, at least 12 hours.
8. Stirred and loosened with water to the consistency of single cream. It thickens overnight and always needs some. The optional egg beaten in now.
9. A heavy pan or flat griddle brought to a HIGH heat and brushed with butter.
10. A ladle of batter poured in and spread thin and wide immediately with the back of the ladle or a spreader.
11. Cooked 1 to 2 minutes until the surface is dry and the underside is set with dark freckles. Flipped.
12. The ham laid on, the cheese scattered, and the egg cracked into the middle.
13. Cooked 2 to 3 minutes until the white is set and the cheese melted, then the four edges folded in to leave a square with the yolk showing.
14. Slid onto a warm plate with a knob of butter and plenty of pepper, and eaten at once.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under France · All recipes