Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Crepes "s'il vous plait,"

The other day I was working a brunch where we had a crepe station set up. While I was standing behind the burner in the 90 deg heat and humidity, I was day dreaming about crepes and when I ate them on streets of Paris. The last one I had there was when I went with my kids to Europe for my 40th birthday, the kids had nutella and chocolate crepes, and I had a more adult blend. I know I had a Grand Marnier crepe and maybe also a Jack Daniels crepe. You have to love the Parisians! These were served from a sidewalk vendor, no Sabrett’s and Knishes here.

My reverie and daydreams were broken when a guest asked me; what's the difference between a crepe and a blintz? I had to think for a second and then answered that the main difference is that a blintz is filled with a cheese filling and rolled before serving.

I guess the answer was sufficient since the guest just moved down the line and continued to fill his crepes; one with the savory vegetable blend with Mornay sauce and the second filled with a fresh fruit compote topped with raspberry coulis and fresh whipped cream.

As he glided down the line, I started to think about other breakfast items similar to crepes. The obvious first thought was pancakes, while they are much thicker then crepes they are very similar with many of the same ingredients.

I then thought of tortillas and the how they are also a staple breakfast item in many cultures. The best huevos rancheros I ever had was not in Mexico but in a little dive in Los Angeles. The tortillas were cooked on a cast iron frying pan older then the gray haired Grandmother cooking them, and the salsa was spicy and hot but not over powering.

In many cultures, pancakes are not always for breakfast. How does Chinese pancakes with green onions sound? Or maybe pancakes with crispy Peking duck? Germans also have pancakes for dinner, they are not served with maple syrup but with filling ranging from jams and jellies to sprouts.


That being said, that the next time you have a meal that is not part of your normal routine, even if its something as simple as crepes, let you mind drift and take a trip around the world. Who knows where you may end up?

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