Breton Crêpes (Breton Galettes)

Ingredients

• 500 g buckwheat flour
• 1 egg
• 70 cl water

Method

Start with buckwheat flour. It hydrates differently from wheat — the grains absorb water more slowly and unevenly, so add liquid gradually to prevent lumps. Mix flour with a pinch of fine sea salt, then create a well. Add the egg and roughly half the water, stirring to combine. The mixture will look rough and unpromising. Add the remaining water in small pours whilst whisking, breaking down any streaks of dry flour as you go. The batter should fall from a spoon in a thin ribbon — looser than crêpe batter made from wheat flour, because buckwheat lacks gluten's elasticity and you need flow to spread it thin. Stop when you reach this consistency; overworking changes nothing here since dough-rest is doing the work.

Leave the batter at room temperature for one hour minimum. The buckwheat absorbs water unevenly during this period, which hydrates the starch fully and gives you a smoother, less grainy final crêpe. Some cooks rest overnight in a cool place — this is fine and sometimes preferable, as it improves extensibility.

Heat your crêpe pan or griddle (cast iron is superior; non-stick gives you no feedback) to medium-high. The surface should be hot enough that a drop of water dances and evaporates in under two seconds. Dip the traditional T-stick or wooden spreader into water — keep it wet throughout. The moisture prevents batter from sticking to the spreader, essential with buckwheat because it lacks the binding protein of wheat dough. Ladle batter onto the centre of the pan, then immediately spread it outward in a spiral motion using the stick, working from the centre to the edges. The galette should be thin enough to see the pan through it. Cook for roughly 90 seconds until the underside is spotted with light brown patches and the edges lift easily. Flip and cook the second side for 45 seconds.

To finish — whether you're filling with ham, cheese, or egg — butter the galette lightly in the pan and heat through for 30 seconds. The french-cuisine convention is to fold into quarters, then slide onto a plate. Eat immediately; buckwheat crêpes toughen as they cool.