Galette
Galette (from the Norman word gale, meaning "flat cake") is a term used in French cuisine to designate various types of flat round or freeform crusty cakes,[1] or, in the case of a Breton galette (French: Galette bretonne [galɛt bʁətɔn]; Breton: Krampouezhenn gwinizh du), a pancake made with buckwheat flour usually with a savoury filling. Of the cake type of galette, one notable variety is the galette des Rois (King cake) eaten on the day of Epiphany. In French Canada the term galette is usually applied to pastries best described as large cookies.
 A galette des Rois | |
| Type | Cake or waffle |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | France |
| Region or state | Normandy, Brittany, French Guiana |
| Main ingredients | Flour |
| Variations | Breton galette (galette bretonne), king cake |
Fruit galette
A common form of galette resembles a type of single crust, free-form pie with a fruit filling and the crust folded partway over the top of the filling.[2] The website joyofbaking.com defines the term galette as "a French term signifying a flat round cake that can be either sweet or savory and while [recipes can use] puff pastry as a base, they can also be made from yeast risen doughs like brioche, or with a sweet pastry crust."[3]
The fruits used in these types of galettes are typical seasonable and can include one or more of apples; berries such as strawberries or blueberries; or stone fruits such as peaches, plums, nectarines, or cherries.[4] Various spices, zests, or peppers can be added in the preparation process if desired.[4] The pastry base is often homemade but can also be commercially purchased.[3]
Bon Appétit magazine has written of such galettes, "They're casually impressive and photogenic, but in that 'Oh, I just threw this together' way. They're rustic and inviting; come as you are. ... Their imperfections are what set them apart—in fact, the less you do, the better they look."[4]
Breton galette
Galette, which is more properly called Breton galette, is also the name given in most French crêperies to savoury buckwheat flour pancakes, while those made from wheat flour, much smaller in size and mostly served with a sweet filling, are branded crêpes. This type of galette is a large, thin pancake mostly associated with the region of Brittany, where it replaced at times bread as basic food, but it is eaten countrywide. Buckwheat was introduced as a crop suitable to impoverished soils and buckwheat pancakes were known in other regions where this crop was cultivated, such as Limousin or Auvergne.
It is frequently garnished with egg, meat, fish, cheese, cut vegetables, apple slices, berries, or similar ingredients. One of the most popular varieties is a galette covered with grated Emmental cheese, a slice of ham, and an egg cooked on the galette. In France this is known as a galette complète (a complete galette).[5] Another variety is a hot sausage wrapped in a galette (called galette saucisse, a tradition of Rennes, Brittany) and eaten like a hot dog.
Galettes campinoises are a type of galette or waffle popular in Belgium
A galette complète served in Annecy, France
A galette and cider in Villedieu-les-Poêles, Normandy, France
Creole galette
The Guianan galette (more commonly known as the Creole galette) is a traditional pastry of Guianan cuisine. This is a Creole variant of the galette des rois which is eaten as a dessert during Epiphany.[6]
It can be garnished with cream, coconut, guava, etc. It is consumed throughout the period Carnival (from the epiphany to the days of Ash) and preferably accompanied by champagne.
References
- Lebovitz, David. "Free-form Rustic Tarts: Whether Sweet or Savory, a Galette is Less Fussy than a Traditional Tart and Offers more Crisp Crust". Fine Cooking. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- See several such recipes in Deborah Madison, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.
- "Apple Galette Recipe & Video". JoyofBaking.com. Retrieved 20 July 2006.
- Music, Carla Lalli (September 2019). "Yes, You Can Galette That". Bon Appétit. pp. 86–91.
- Anne Willan (2007), The Country Cooking of France, San Francisco, Calif.: Chronicle Books, p. 236, ISBN 978-0-8118-4646-2,
GALETTES BRETONNES AU SARRASIN. BRETON BUCKWHEAT GALETTES. The filling for a paper-thin Breton galette is always simple. The most popular, called a complet, includes ham and egg and often a spoonful of fresh cheese. You can ask for the egg to be brouillé, briskly scrambled on the hot galette, or miroir, left untouched to bake on top. When the galette is pleated, the golden egg yolk peeps out of the crisp brown folds.
- Le carnaval des familles
External links
The dictionary definition of galette at Wiktionary
