Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Crêpes!


Who can argue with crêpes? Dress 'em up, dress 'em down, sweet or savory, there's surely a crepe for everyone. My younger child is partial to the lemon flavored variety, hot off the griddle from the fellow on the street, or anything with an oeuf miroir (sunny side up) in the middle. My older has to have something with chocolate. And me? I like the savory ones, particularly when they are good and crisp, oozing with any kind of cheese.

So if you're pondering what to have for dinner tonight, think no further. February 2nd is the French holiday of Chandeleur and crêpes are the order of the day. The origins are pagan but like many pagan festivals, it was eventually pre-empted by the Christians who designated it as the time to commemorate the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of baby Jesus. But the religious part seems to have fallen by the wayside in modern day France where churchgoing Catholics are few and far between. The woman who was my French teacher the year we arrived shrugged when I asked her about the origins and put it this way: "it was the day my grandfather always used to make crêpes." Can't argue with that.

5 comments:

Joy said...

My children told me that they had crêpes for goûter this morning at school instead of fruit. When I asked why, my almost 8yo explained, "Today the Christians celebrate Jesus and stuff by eating crêpes. Can we have pancakes for supper tonight, Mom?"

Thank you for the extra information! :)

debbie in toronto said...

sort of like pancake day...sounds like a good enough reason to me...let's have crepes. My mother in law who is Russian makes the best crepes...one after the other a perfect as the next...

Starman said...

I don't think I've ever seen a "crispy" crêpe.

Duchesse said...

Yummy and affordable too:) I love that quaint little street (rue du Mont Parnasse) off the Tour Montparnasse in the XIVe with all the crêperies. I never fail to go there when I'm in town:) What could be better on a cold evening than a crêpe oozing with cheese and a glass of cider?:)

Anonymous said...

I was treated to leftover crepe batter yesterday on the way out of school--I work in a high school & our French teacher had made them with her classes throughout the day. Dinner solved! We had them with swiss cheese, and then with pear butter for dessert--yum!

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