I'm sharing a bit more with you today from our recent trip to Brittany—this time it's what to eat. Crêpes and cider are specialties of Brittany. Almost every good size French town has at least one crêperie, but it seems to me in Brittany there is one on every block. And even though I've eaten crêpes many a time before I can honestly say the very best crêpes I have ever eaten in my life were on this visit. This is the crêperie we chose in Rennes, the Crêperie Ste. Anne.
If you're having crêpes you just have to drink cider (cidre in French and another Brittany specialty). This cider is delicious and comes in two types—brut or doux. Brut is not sweet, doux is. Cider in France does contain alcohol and is sparkling not flat. It will be served to you in a bottle or a pitcher like this one and it is drunk in these types of mugs.
Here's a 'before' crêpe shot.
And here's the after, right before I dig in. Notice the different fold on the crêpe and also that it is darker in color. This crêpe is made with buckwheat flour (sarrasin in French) and is a dinner crêpe. You might see it on the menu as a galette. It is not sweet, it is savory. Common fillings are ham, eggs, potatoes, mushrooms, cheese, spinach, even seafood. Dessert crêpes are made with wheat flour, are lighter in color and are sweet. Popular fillings are chocolate, bananas, apples, Nutella and the like.
Bretagne has all sorts of cakes and pastries to temp you (Brittany is also known for its butter). This tempting corner shop is in St. Malo (more on that another day).
I bought from this shop another specialty, the sinfully delicious cake called Kouign Amann. WARNING—these things are addictive and are pure butter. Consume at your own risk.
I love crêpes and cidre and since I've never been to Brittany I'm sure what I've had is just a pale shadow of the real thing. Looks like you had beautiful weather on your trip too!
ReplyDeleteWe lucked out, Michelle! We had nice weather every day. Only on the trip back from Paris did we have some rain. Not being very summer-ish, is it?!
ReplyDeleteLOVE this little travelogue! Of course I'm working backwards, but that's ok! I'm an enormous fan of crepes and even have an authentic French crepe pan, though I haven't used it in years. IMO there is nothing that doesn't taste a little better enrobed in a crepe. Thank you so much for sharing your vacation with us! (That little corner bakery is so charming!)
ReplyDelete... and here I am to go on about your hair, again. Charming photo of you ( and how pretty and French you look in your little dress (top?) and beads and red lippy! ) but now that I'm getting used to your new look, I can also drool all over my keyboard at the buckwheat crepes! OMG. Oui! We serve a sparkling hard pear cider at our restaurant, on tap actually. (Woodchuck brand, California, fermented with a champagne yeast so it's got a kick and a bright fizz ... not too sweet. Wonder how different it is? ) Still, better to drink and eat anything in Brittany.
ReplyDeleteMais quelle tentation !!! Crêpes, cidre, Kuingn Amann, miam miam!! Tout ça donne envie ;o)
ReplyDeleteI like both gallette and crepe. Beautiful picture of yourself.
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