Crepes, Pancakes & Galettes

These succulent Swiss Chard Pancakes are known in French as “Farçous”. They hail from Aveyron, a lesser-known region in Occitanie, in South-Central France. Sparsely populated and left mostly unspoiled with wild pastures and picturesque hamlets, Aveyron is often refered to as “La France Profonde” (the deep France). But its cuisine is anything but ho-hum, with many local specialties being staples all throughout Southern France, including the world-famous Pommes Aligot, Gâteau à la Broche and these little Farçous.    

Known in French as buckwheat “galettes”, these Brittany-style buckwheat pancakes are a variation on the utterly classic Buckwheat crêpes (a recipe that I shared here). They differ from the latter as they are thicker and smaller, but are made with the same ingredients and have the same delectable nutty, earthy flavors and fluffy texture dotted with little holes.

Buckwheat crepes are commonly known in French as “crêpes de blé noir” or “crêpes de sarrasin” (blé noir and sarrasin both translating to buckwheat). They are the quintessence of traditional Brittany cuisine, and if you’re visiting this beautiful North-Western French region, going to a “creperie” to enjoy one (or two, or three…) of these buckwheat crepes is an inevitable must-do.

Known in French as “Crêpes Vonnassiennes” or “Crêpes Parmentières”, these fluffy little Potato Pancakes are actually properly known as “Crêpes” and are a delicious specialty hailing from Vonnas, in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region of France. 

There are a few staples that every French home cook should master, and French crêpes are without any doubt in the top 3. For myself, being from Brittany, the birthplace of crepes, they are actually #1. And as a true Brittany native, I must start by emphasizing the fact that savory and sweet crepes are quite different in Brittany, and surely not meant to be mixed up. The difference starts right from the choice of flour … Crêpes de “blé noir”: Literally translated as “buckwheat flour crêpes” are meant to be garnished with …