By Dimitri Monnin
It is a winter morning like any other in Paris. I am awakened by the sounds of cars honking in the traffic and my parents bustling around the apartment getting ready for work. I lay in my bed knowing that it’s Saturday and that I don’t have class. Through my window on the fourth floor of our building, I can see the youngsters of my neighborhood playing soccer in the street. The game is really interesting as I watch them arguing for a possible offside. My best friend’s elder brother is playing and I am totally impressed and focused on his soccer skills–until a delicious smell makes me lose my attention to the game and stare at my room door. What is that scent that hypnotizes me and has me walking out of my room? There is only one answer to this question and I resolve it as I walk into the kitchen to see my Mom cooking some crepes. The smile on my face extends from ear to ear. I rush to the plate full of crepes, grab the warmest one, and eat it in one gulp. My mom laughs as she sees a little gremlin walking around the kitchen with its mouth full trying to talk to her. I then sit down on the couch and watch children’s shows while eating crepes with Nutella for the rest of the morning. This was a normal day for me and for a lot of other families in France: a morning shared with the delicious taste of crepes.
The crepe, or pancake, appeared in Brittany, France around the 13th century following the cultivation of buckwheat brought back from the crusades in Asia. Buckwheat flour was used to make a thin, round layer of dough. It was transformed at the beginning of our century into the crêpe we know today, thanks to the arrival of white wheat flour. It is served everywhere in “crêperies”, and goes well with a bowl of sweet or brut cider. Easy to prepare with today’s crêpe makers, crêpes are a joy for mothers and a delight for children!
A national day has even been created for the crepes, called Candlemas, or la chandeleur in French. Candlemas, 40 days after Christmas, is celebrated on February 2. For Christians, this religious day corresponds with the presentation of Jesus in the temple and the purification of the Virgin Mary. Children, however, will tell you that Candlemas is the day for crepes! A day where every French person is cooking crepes for every meal of the day.
If you travel to Paris anytime soon, don’t worry–you will most likely find little crepes food trucks all over the tourist streets just like you could easily find a taco truck here in New Mexico. I mentioned earlier that I ate my crepes with Nutella when I was young, but don’t get me wrong, crepes could also be eaten with an infinity of other ingredients. That’s what makes it beautiful. Usually kids like them sweet and parents and grandparents like them with ham and cheese. There are no restrictions; it is all in your favor! If you want it like that, make it like that, and don’t worry, nobody is going to judge you.
Crepes have been a part of my culture throughout my whole life. I could even say that it is in my blood since my dad was a chef at a French pastry and he cooked hundreds of crepes every day. But not just any old French pastry, the one in Santa Fe, New Mex., on the first floor of the La Fonda hotel. He brought the recipe with him when he first came to the United States. It wasn’t in his plans to become a chef for a French pastry. He just became one after betting and losing most of his money at the gambling capital, infamously known as “Sin City.” He had to find a job in order to be able to live and occasionally pay for flights for visits back to France. Moving down south from Nevada, he ended up being employed by a French pastry shop in Santa Fe that, at the time, only baked basic French pastries such as “croissants” and “baguettes,” among other specialties. My dad came up with the idea to add crepes to the menu and it ended up being a best seller, and even now, hundreds of crepes are sold at the shop every day. As my dad says, “Making crepes for American people in the 80’s was one of the best experiences of my life. Some tourists coming from out of state stopped by every day and were amazed by the taste of the crepes and told me how better it was compared to their fluffy pancakes. I made a lot of friends and memories along my cooking journey.”
The only issue is that a crepe in a French pastry could cost you a good 15 dollars here in the U.S. But no worries, here is how you could make them yourself:
The French Pastry Crêpe of Santa Fe
Recipe and price for 15 to 20 homemade crepes:
Ingredients needed:
- 4 eggs (< $1)
- 250g (1 3/4) cups of flour (< $1)
- 500 ml (1 cup) of milk (< $2)
- a pinch of salt (< 50c)
- 2 tablespoons of sugar (< 50c)
- 50g (1/4 cup) of butter (< 50c)
Utensils needed:
- 1 large bowl
- 1 measuring cup
- 1 pan
- 1 ladle
- 1 whisk
- 1 spatula
- 1 plate
Instructions:
Mix the flour, salt, eggs, milk, melted butter, and sugar together in a large bowl until it forms a smooth and slightly thick batter. Let the batter rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. When ready to make your crepes, heat a 10-inch pan over medium heat. Once hot, brush with some oil. Allow the batter to cook until mostly set, then flip and cook until golden brown on the second side. (1 min per side) Repeat until you have enough!
Cooking crepes is not that hard. In fact, I personally think that it is easier than cooking pancakes. I’ll choose crepes over pancakes any day of the week if the choice is between the two. Why? I can eat a lot more of them due to their thin and light texture, limitless versatility (as stated before, they can be served with sweet or savory fillings), and ability to fill you up without causing you to become unduly full. Sure, a huge stack of fluffy pancakes has its place from time to time, but for me, crepes are the best!
My grandma was the first person that introduced me to crepes and taught me how to cook them. Since that day, there has never been a month of my life where I didn’t find a weekend to prepare some. Even though I live here in the U.S., I bring the knowledge with me just like my dad did back in the day. It took me a little while to introduce them to my friends due to the simple fact that I don’t have a kitchen in my small university dorm room.
That is, until the day I traveled to Las Vegas with my girlfriend (who ended up being my wife) for our first trip together in November 2022. There in Las Vegas, we were randomly walking and visiting the hotel Paris-Las Vegas when we felt the need to eat. We stopped at La Creperie, which is a little restaurant designed like any outside terrace that you can find throughout Paris. The menu caught my attention, especially the crepe part. I wanted my wife to try it so bad that I didn’t even check the price and ordered two of them with Nutella and banana slices. Was that a good idea? Well, yes, the crepes were delicious and brought back memories, but the price had me speechless: almost $40 for two simple crepes! At least she liked it! Since that day, my wife’s house has become a creperie and every weekend, when I drive down to Ruidoso, I cook crepes for everybody.
“It was different, like a culture shock for me,” my wife says. “I am a really savory person that eats chips or Mexican food most of the time, but a crepe with Nutella like my husband did is really one of the best sweet food I ever ate.” My niece and nephew (who are six and seven years old) love it and keep asking for more. I brought a part of my French culture to this family and this culture will remain for generations as I can visualize these kids cooking crepes for themselves and their friends in the future.
From France to the United States, my first and most recent times cooking crepes.
Furthermore, my wife and I, since she also loves the taste of crepes, have the idea to open a crepes business wherever we decide to live in the U.S.–a simple creperie that will serve all kinds of customizable crepes (sweet or savory) at a reasonable price. With her Mexican origins, we were even thinking of mixing in Mexican food with them. Will it work out? I will let you know in a couple of years!
Until then, Bon appétit!
