Tomorrow is La Chandeleur in France—Pancake Day to some—and it’s brought to the surface another dispute over the proper name of a traditional food, in this case a form of pancake.
There’s no dispute about crêpes sprinkled with sugar, or filled with jam or Nutella or topped with whipped cream; the issue is when it is filled with savory fillings such as ham, eggs or cheese. One is a dessert, the other is the heart of a meal, and in its home, Brittany, is usually made with buckwheat.
But what to call that savory treat is in dispute; in Upper Brittany, it’s a galette—a term which also applies to several kinds of tart. In Lower Brittany, it’s a crêpe salée. Literally, that’s a salted crepe, but the comparable English would call it ‘savory.’ In central areas of Brittany, it’s mostly ‘choose your side,’ as is the case in the rest of the country.
It’s not the only regional disagreement: there are strong regional opinions over the proper name for the popular chocolate-filled pastry: pain au chocolat, chocolatine or croissant chocolat.
La Chandeleur, celebrated on February 2nd, is a French holiday known as Crêpe Day that marks the midpoint of winter, 40 days after Christmas. It combines Christian traditions—the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple—with pagan rituals celebrating the return of light and sun (represented by golden crêpes). Key customs include eating crêpes, drinking cider, and flipping a crêpe with a coin for prosperity.
Not being French, I have no strong feelings about the name. Whenever I had the savoury version, I believe it was called a ‘galette’ – but for me the important aspect is the buckwheat. It is much better suited to a savoury topping/filling.
My favorite place in Paris calls both crepe, with the distinction of ‘sucree’ or ‘salee,’ and I’m happy to have one of each without regard to name! And definitely, all the ‘salee’ choices are ‘sarassin.’ or buckwheat.