Happy Chandeleur!
Yesterday, February 2nd, was Groundhog Day in North America and Chandeleur in France, also known as “pancakes’ day”. I’m obviously more familiar with this second event, so I’m going to tell you a bit more about it.
The Chandeleur (Candlemas in English) is originally a Roman Catholic feast and corresponds to the presentation of Jesus at the Temple. However, the religious feast is often forgotten about because of all the traditions and superstitions, which have developed over the years.
In the UK, bad weather on Candlemas Day indicates the end of winter:
“If Candlemas Day is clear and bright,
winter will have another bite.
If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain,
winter is gone and will not come again.”
Let’s hope that the saying is right considering the snow storm we’ve experienced yesterday.
In France, we eat pancakes. The tradition also says that if the cook can flip a crêpe while holding a coin in his hand, the family is assured prosperity for the rest of the year.
Crêpes or pancakes?
The French word crêpe is often translated by pancake, but it doesn’t sound quite right to me. Alhtough the ingredients are pretty much the same, a crêpe is thiner and larger than a pancake. To cook them, we also use a special pan called crêpière (pancake pan), which is about 20-25 cm diameter and less deep than a normal frying pan.
I know that the Chandeleur was yesterday, but I’m going to give you the recipe anyway. There’s no bad time to eat crêpes.
Crêpes Recipe
Makes 6-8 crêpes - Ready in 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 100g flour
- 300ml milk
- 15ml melted butter or sunflower oil
- 1 egg
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 splash of lager or cider
- Sunflower oil for the pan
Preparation
- Mix all the ingredients together, in a blender or food processor.
- Brush the pan with sunflower oil.
- Heat the pan until sizzling hot.
- Add a small ladleful of batter and cook for about 1-2 minutes on each side.
Filling
At the Chandeleur, the whole meal is made with crêpes. Here are a few typical examples of filling:
Main course: ham - cheese (Cheddar, goat, blue…) - mushrooms - egg - smoked salmon…
Dessert: jam - marmalade - lemon curd - honey - sugar - chocolate - fruits - whipped cream - peanut butter…
My personal favourites are ham & cheese and chocolate spread.
Did you eat crepes yesterday?
What are your favourites?
(c) photo by sonicwalker via Flickr
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I forgot to celebrate “la Chandeleur ” !!! Shame on me !!!!
BUT, it will be a good idea for today’s dinner !!
I will only cook them as a dessert as we had too much of “bad” eating this weekend, we need to eat better this week !