Breton Buckwheat Galette Complète
A thin, lacy buckwheat crêpe from Brittany, filled in the pan with Swiss cheese, ham and an egg, then folded into a square around the yolk.
Brittany, in France's far northwest, is crêpe country. France's official tourism site says cakes of grain and water cooked on hot stones go back to 7000 BC, that the crêpe first appeared in Brittany in the 13th century, and that buckwheat, brought back from Asia after the Crusades and well suited to the Breton climate, became its main ingredient (france.fr, Pascale Filliâtre, updated January 31, 2023:). The same page explains the two names: galettes are made with buckwheat flour and water and are usually savory, while crêpes use white wheat flour, milk and eggs and are usually sweet, though it adds that Bretons don't always agree on the terms. Both are cooked on a bilig, a round cast-iron griddle, with a wooden spreader called a rozell, and france.fr calls the "complète" of egg, ham and cheese the queen of galettes.
Every February 2, Candlemas (la Chandeleur) turns France into a crêpe party; france.fr repeats a legend, introduced with "supposedly", that Pope Gelasius I comforted pilgrims in 5th-century Rome with pancakes. Taste France Magazine adds that a traditional galette is only buckwheat flour, water and salt, which makes it naturally gluten-free. To an American, a pancake is thick, sweet and leavened. Brittany's version is thin, savory, brown-gray and has no leavening at all.
Why it works the kitchen science
A long rest
Buckwheat has no gluten to develop, so time is what turns it into a smooth, pourable batter; the 2 hours lets the flour absorb the water so the galettes hold together and stay pliable.
Cooked twice
The empty galette is browned first, then filled in the pan, so the second side turns lacy and crisp while the cheese melts and the egg sets on top.
Step by step
- Step 1
Put the buckwheat flour in a large bowl, add the salt and make a well in the middle. Pour in the water a little at a time, stirring hard with a wooden spoon or whisk, until the batter is smooth with no lumps. Beat in the egg.
- Step 2
Cover the bowl and refrigerate at least 2 hours (or overnight) so the flour fully hydrates. Stir well before using; the batter should be as thin as heavy cream.
- Step 3
Heat a 10- to 12-inch nonstick or crêpe pan over medium heat for 2 minutes and rub it with a little butter. Pour in about 1/3 cup batter and quickly swirl the pan to coat the bottom thinly. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, until the edges lift and the underside is golden, flip and cook 1 minute more. Stack on a plate. Expect the first one or two to be practice galettes.
- Step 4
Heat the oven to 200°F. Put one galette back in the buttered pan over medium heat, best-looking side down. Scatter about 1/3 cup (30 g) cheese over it, lay a slice of ham in the middle and crack an egg on top of the ham.
- Step 5
Cover the pan and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until the cheese melts, the underside crisps and the egg white is completely set; for a firm yolk, cook 1 to 2 minutes longer.
- Step 6
Season the egg with salt and pepper and sprinkle with chives. Fold the four edges in toward the yolk to make a square with the yolk showing in the window. Slide onto a plate and keep warm in the oven while you fill the rest (two pans make this go twice as fast). Serve with a cup of cider.
Breton Buckwheat Galette Complète
Serves 4 (2 galettes each) · about 10 galettes, 8 of them filled · 1 hr total
Galette batter
- 1 1/3 cups (165 g) buckwheat flour
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tbsp (375 ml) cold water
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp butter, for the pan
Filling
- 8 large eggs
- 8 thin slices cooked ham
- About 2 2/3 cups (240 g) grated Swiss or Emmental cheese
- 2 tbsp chopped chives
- Salt and black pepper
To serve (optional)
- Dry Breton or French cider
Method
- Put the buckwheat flour in a large bowl, add the salt and make a well in the middle. Pour in the water a little at a time, stirring hard with a wooden spoon or whisk, until the batter is smooth with no lumps. Beat in the egg.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate at least 2 hours (or overnight) so the flour fully hydrates. Stir well before using; the batter should be as thin as heavy cream.
- Heat a 10- to 12-inch nonstick or crêpe pan over medium heat for 2 minutes and rub it with a little butter. Pour in about 1/3 cup batter and quickly swirl the pan to coat the bottom thinly. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, until the edges lift and the underside is golden, flip and cook 1 minute more. Stack on a plate. Expect the first one or two to be practice galettes.
- Heat the oven to 200°F. Put one galette back in the buttered pan over medium heat, best-looking side down. Scatter about 1/3 cup (30 g) cheese over it, lay a slice of ham in the middle and crack an egg on top of the ham.
- Cover the pan and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until the cheese melts, the underside crisps and the egg white is completely set; for a firm yolk, cook 1 to 2 minutes longer.
- Season the egg with salt and pepper and sprinkle with chives. Fold the four edges in toward the yolk to make a square with the yolk showing in the window. Slide onto a plate and keep warm in the oven while you fill the rest (two pans make this go twice as fast). Serve with a cup of cider.
Adapted from Myriam Baya, "The Original French Galette Complète", Taste France Magazine (no date shown). We halved the batter (165 g buckwheat flour, 375 ml water, 5 g coarse salt, and we keep the 1 egg whole), which makes about 10 galettes; Taste France makes about 20. Taste France fills each galette with 1 egg, 1 slice of ham and 50 g Emmental; we use about 30 g of cheese, between Taste France and the 2 tablespoons of Swiss in King Arthur's galette complète tip (Charlotte Rutledge, "Buckwheat Crêpes", updated June 23, 2022:). The 2-hour rest is Taste France's; King Arthur allows overnight. Taste France says medium heat and gives no time for the filling; the covered pan, the 3 to 4 minutes and the 200°F warm oven are ours. tastefrance.com. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- For dessert, our suggestion: butter a warm plain galette and sprinkle it with sugar, or make a white-flour crêpe batter, which france.fr says is the usual base for sweet crêpes.
- Buckwheat flour is gluten-free, but check the ham and the label on the flour if you cook for someone with celiac disease.
- Leftover plain galettes keep in the fridge, wrapped, for a couple of days; reheat them in a dry pan.
- Taste France suggests other fillings: Andouille de Guémené sausage, other cheeses or fish.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Galettes are buckwheat, crêpes are wheat. Disputed wording: france.fr gives that split, then says Bretons don't always agree on the terms. Name both words.
- A real galette has no egg. Documented: Taste France says the traditional batter is only buckwheat flour, water and salt, though its own recipe adds one egg.
- Crêpes were born in 13th-century Brittany. Documented as france.fr's claim; we did not see the original source behind it.
- Pope Gelasius started the Candlemas crêpe. Folklore: france.fr itself says "supposedly".
- Flip the first crêpe holding a coin for a lucky year. Folklore: a family custom reported in French and Australian food articles (search summaries only).
- The yolk should stay runny. Disputed: Taste France cooks the egg "to your liking"; FoodSafety.gov says cook eggs until yolk and white are firm. We set the white completely and let you choose the yolk.
- Drink cider with it. Documented as tradition by both france.fr and Taste France.
Every other pancake and French toast
Dutch Pannenkoeken with Bacon (Spekpannenkoeken)
Plate-size Dutch pancakes, thinner than an American pancake and thicker than a crêpe, with strips of bacon baked right into the batter and dark syrup poured on top.
Swedish Pancakes (Pannkakor) with Lingonberry Jam and Cream
Thin, crisp-edged Swedish pancakes made from a simple milk, egg and flour batter, rolled or folded and served with lingonberry jam and whipped cream, Thursday-style.
Japanese Soufflé Pancakes
Tall, wobbling pancakes made by folding a stiff meringue into a light yolk batter, then cooking them low and slow under a lid with a splash of water for steam.
Korean Hotteok (Sweet Filled Pancakes)
A chewy yeasted dough made with sweet rice flour, wrapped around brown sugar, cinnamon and walnuts and pressed flat in an oiled pan until the filling melts into syrup.
American Buttermilk Pancakes (The Diner Stack)
Fluffy, tangy buttermilk pancakes leavened with baking powder and baking soda, rested so the batter thickens, griddled at 350°F and stacked high with butter and maple syrup.
The Dutch Baby (Seattle Oven Pancake)
A blender batter of eggs, milk and flour poured into a skillet of sizzling butter and baked at 425°F until it puffs up high around the edges, served the original way with lemon and powdered sugar.
Pain Perdu (French "Lost Bread")
Thick slices of day-old brioche soaked in vanilla milk, eggs and sugar, browned in butter, then sugared and finished in a hot oven until the tops caramelize, served as a dessert the French way.
Arme Ritter (German "Poor Knights")
Day-old kaiser rolls halved, soaked in sweet egg milk, fried golden in clarified butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar, Germany's frugal French toast.
Torrijas (Madrid Holy Week French Toast)
Thick slices of day-old bread soaked in milk steeped with cinnamon and lemon peel, dipped in egg, fried in olive oil and drizzled with honey, the Lent and Holy Week sweet of Madrid.
Hong Kong French Toast (Sai Do Si)
Thick white bread stuffed with peanut butter, dipped in egg and deep-fried until crunchy, then topped with a pat of butter and a drizzle of condensed milk, cha chaan teng style.
American Diner French Toast
Day-old challah dipped in a light vanilla batter with a little flour, browned in butter in a cast-iron skillet, and served the American way with butter, powdered sugar and maple syrup.
Sheet-Pan Pancakes
One big buttermilk-style pancake batter spread in a sheet pan and baked at 375°F for about 20 minutes, then cut into squares so everyone eats hot pancakes at the same time.
Diner-Style Buttermilk Pancakes, Inspired by IHOP
A blender batter of buttermilk, oil and a little sugar, raised with baking soda alone, griddled into tender 5-inch pancakes in the style of the all-day pancake house. Inspired by, not official.
Meatballs of the World
Italian-American Meatballs
Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
Pork meatballs shaped with a spoon and fried slowly in butter, crusty outside and soft in the middle.
Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
The tapas bar classic: small meatballs in a golden sauce thickened with fried almonds and bread.
Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
Soft meatballs with rice and fresh mint inside, simmered in a smoky tomato and chipotle broth.
Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
Small, flat meatballs kneaded hard, rested cold, and charred on a hot grill pan.
Lion's Head Meatballs
Big, soft pork meatballs, stirred into a sticky paste, fried to set, then braised in a savory sauce.
Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.