A Brittany Version of Bread is Crepe

Crêpes are a thin layer of dough (made with eggs, milk, flour, and a small amount of salt) cooked in a circular pan. The word comes from the old French “crespe”, derived from latin, meaning curled. Originally from Brittany, there are two types of crêpes: crêpes de froment are sweet and made with wheat flour and galettes or galettes de sarrasin are salty and made with buckwheat flour. The typical galette is called “la complète”: it consists of cooking an egg, a piece of ham and cheese on a salty crêpe. The most basic, but nevertheless delicious sweet crêpe is called “la beurre sucre” and is typically made with sugar, melted butter and sometimes a bit of lemon. In France, sweet crêpes are notably eaten during the Chandeleur, originally a Christian religious holiday celebrated in February, and nowadays simply considered “the day for crêpes”. If you are looking for tasty crêpes, you don’t need to trek all the way to Brittany. Crêpes are the quintessential Parisian “street food” (along with the Jambon Beurre sandwich – at its most basic, simply ham and butter in baguette). On Thursdays or Sunday mornings at the beautiful Bastille Market, tourists and locals alike line up for crêpes! If you are looking to sit down in a restaurant, I would recommend going to one of the many crêperies in the Montparnasse area (Edgar Quinet metro stop).