Loving Crepes

French crepes are actually something that was celebrated every 2nd of February. It was a day where every French home would make a good dozen of lovely crepes to eat together. It was believed to be for the return of the light (spring is coming and no more long winter nights ahead) and it is called "La Chandeleur". The crepes were the pride of the Britanny region (Bretagne) in the North West of France, where they make the recipe extremely big and paper thin. They usually eat them with a bit of caster sugar spread on the top. It was then rolled in a big "cigar" or folded in four and eaten while drinking some bubbly apple cider of the same region. Savored for centuries, crêpes are celebrating a revival today, with crêperies opening throughout France, North America, and Asia.

Most cuisines all over the world make crêpes in one form or another. There is the Italian crespella, the French crêpe, the Chinese mandarin pancake, the Mexican tortilla, the Indian dosa and the Russian blinchki. In France, the crêpe used to be called pannequet, from which the word pancake is probably derived. A very thin pannequet resembles the wrinkled, fragile looking fabric, which we know as crêpe—hence its name.

The word 'crêpe' is French for pancake. A crêpe is an unleavened, flat, thin pancake of cooked dough or batter, which is used as a wrapper for another food. Crêpe batter is generally made from flour, eggs, milk, butter, salt, sugar, water and oil. Until recently, crêpes were cooked on large cast-iron hot plates heated over a wood fire in a fireplace. The hot plates are now gas or electric heated, and the batter is spread with a wooden spreader and flipped with a wooden spatula.

Ingredients

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon granulated sugar (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons butter, melted
1/2 cup seltzer water or club soda

1. In a blender or food processor, combine the flours, sugar (if using), salt, eggs, milk, and butter. Process until smooth. Pour the batter into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least half an hour, or overnight.

2. Remove the bowl from the refrigerator and gently whisk the seltzer water into the batter.

3. Place a large skillet over medium high heat and spray with non-stick oil. Pour 2 tablespoons of batter into the skillet. Tilt and rotate the pan, spreading the batter all over the bottom of the skillet. Cook for about 30 seconds, or until the bottom side of the crepe is golden. Flip the crepe by lifting the edge of the crepe with a fork and using your fingers to grasp and turn it. Cook another 20 seconds, or until golden.

4. Fill and serve the crepe, or continue making crepes until all the batter is used.