Tags
candlemas, chandeleur, crepes, Crepes Suzette, France, ginette mathiot, holiday, Je Sais Cuisiner, luck, Montpellier, Pierre Dominique Cécillon, study abroad
Special guest writer Michelle Hum, digital advisor for A Woman’s Paris™
Crêpes Suzette, Paris, by Barbara Redmond
As millions of elementary school children in America eagerly wait for the groundhog to come out to find his shadow, the French celebrate Chandeleur, also known as Le Jour des Crêpes. What do waiting for a furry woodland creature and eating delicious sugar filled pancakes have in common? They both are derivations of the Christian holiday Candlemas.
Candlemas celebrates the presentation of Jesus at Temple. After giving birth to Jesus, Mary had to perform a ritual purification. From there, I’m not sure how weather predicting groundhogs or crêpes got involved, but somewhere along the line, these associations appeared. Even my host dad, a practicing Catholic, couldn’t tell me.
During my stay in Montpellier, France, I had the opportunity to celebrate Chandeleur with my host family. That morning, my host mom made a batch of crêpe batter and let it repose in the fridge during the day. After my host dad got home from work, the fun began. Tradition dictates that while flipping a crêpe during Chandeleur, you must hold a piece of money in one hand and flip the crêpe in the pan with the other. If you succeed, you will have good luck for the rest of the year. If not, better luck next year. I think we probably should have buttered the pan a bit better because none of us were able to flip our crêpes. Despite being cursed, the meal was still delicious.
The first round was crêpes aux champignons and for dessert, we had a variety of fillings ranging from simple butter and sugar to my new found favorite spread, Crème de Châtaigne (Chestnut Jam). The recipe my host mom uses comes from the cookbook “Je Sais Cuisiner” by Ginette Mathiot. There is also an English version of the book titled “I Know How to Cook”. It is pretty easy and featured below. For those who need a little more guidance, you can check out French chef Pierre Dominique Cécillon do a demonstration (in French). If you’re an Anglophone, Julia Child features these little delights on her TV show, The French Chef. Perhaps this year while waiting for the groundhog to come out and bring news of winter or spring, you can do it, crêpe in hand.
For crêpes in Minneapolis, I used Ginette Mathiot’s recipe from Je Sais Cuisiner.
Je Sais Cuisiner, by Ginette Mathiot. Recipe for crêpes.
Ingredients:
500 g flour (4 cups and two extra tablespoons)
1 liter milk (4 c)
4 eggs
2 tablespoon of oil
2 pinches of salt (for dessert crepes also add 2t sugar)
Optional: vanilla, fleur d’oranger, rum, etc.
Directions:
- Sieve flour into a mixing bowl.
- Create a little hole in the flour for the eggs.
- Add oil, salt, and a bit of milk.
- Whisk together.
- Gradually add in the milk, stirring to combine.
- Add the flavoring.
- Let it sit for at least an hour.
- Before cooking, add a little bit of milk to the batter and whisk it gently.
- Heat a crêpe pan over medium heat.
- Oil or butter a crepe pan/frying pan.
- Pour or scoop a little bit of the batter onto the pan.
- Swirl until batter forms a thin coat.
- Grab your piece of money, jiggle, flip, and hope for the best.
You may also enjoy A Woman’s Paris post, Foods of France: Infinite flavours. One of the many delights of Paris is the infinite variety of flavours available in everything from yogurt to jams to ice cream to spices. Including a list of spice shops and gourmet stores in Paris.
or Paris: Mardi Gras crêpes. The French have two kinds of pancakes – crêpes and galettes. Crêpes tend to be thinner and made with white flour and cooked in a special crêpe pan or on a griddle. They may have a sweet or savoury filling. Galettes are thicker pancakes or even flattish cakes made with buckwheat flour. Galettes are associated with Breton cooking and often have a savoury filling. A Crêpes Suzette recipe, translated from Mon Cours de Cuisine (My Cooking Course) by Keda Black is included.
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