The other day, when we were eating some of the Ratatouille-Caponata on the dinner table, my husband was saying how he can well imagine it goes well as a topping on pizza. I could follow where his imagination was going. My husband loves pizza. This comment inspired me to make this dinner. It is actually Ratatouille-Caponata with French galette, instead of pizza. It’s because my body doesn’t digest pizza so well. And also because I thought it was a great opportunity to make galette, which I have not made for a while. I love galette, and I was quite convinced that I can offer a somewhat similar feeling for his pizza dreaming mind.
Today’s Menu
- Galette 1: with arugula, strawberries, and avocado
- Galette 2: with ratatouille-caponata and egg
- Green salad
Galette, the origin of French crepe
While living in Europe, I made different friends from France, and they introduced me to the beauty of their culinary culture. One of the things I learned during my youth was the French crepe, which was also quite similar to Austrian Palatschinken, which my mother used to make, and which I loved very much. Making the batter with flour, eggs, milk, and melted butter, you then heat it up on the pan. Much thinner than making pancakes. On a thin round warm cake, you put some jam, then roll, and eat! I loved that very much. When I became older, I eventually learned about the origin of this crepe culture, which is called Galette, which comes from the Northwest region of France, Brittany, and it is eaten as a sweet or savory dish. Their tradition is to make the dough with only buckwheat flour, water, and salt. It was such a beautiful experience to enjoy the authentic and traditional savory crepe. The buckwheat flour makes the galette a beautifully dark color as well as fragrant and flavorful. I was quite amazed how delicious it was, as it was made with just flour and water. Its beautiful, aromatic flavor enhances the flavor of the topping. What a lovely invention! There is a magic in this simplicity that continues to attract many people’s hearts and appetites. I was absolutely inspired to make it by myself. So, I bought the pan for it about 5 years ago in Paris. Ever since, I have always been enjoying making and eating various types of galette at home.
Start the dough in the morning!
One of the important tips I learned for making galette was to mix the buckwheat flour and water in the morning and let it sit for over 6 hours. In this way, the flour and water are truly coming together so that there is no need for any additional binder. Also by letting it sit for hours allows the dough to ferment naturally and adds complexity to the flavor.
Health benefits
Buckwheat is a wonderful grain, especially when one has difficulty with gluten or even a sensitive stomach. I can eat and digest spelt (better when fermented), but I do feel the difference when baking things with buckwheat flour. It feels lighter and cleaner. Buckwheat is high in fiber, protein, as well as magnesium. It is also anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory. Buckwheat can also grow in the cold climate. Therefore, it has a warming effect, when seen from the Eastern perspective.
Non-dairy Savory Galette
The very classic savory galette has egg and cheese on the top. It is a golden trio, especially when you make it with a high quality cheese. I could enjoy it from time to time when I was living in Norway. I used to buy goat cheese coming from a small farm where they would milk their goats by hand. And yet, living in California now, I rarely eat cheese at home. When I moved here, I was still looking for cheese to eat occasionally, coming from my previous diet. But gradually I found out more and more how it is actually not so easy to get the quality of cheese I am after. How are the animals living? Are they freely roaming around in nature? What are they eating? Are they eating primarily pasture or are they fed with pellets? How many goats are the farmers raising? It is not easy to find the cheese that meets these criteria, and if so, it is very expensive! Also, I learned to realize that my body is actually not needing much cheese. When the natural environment of our living situation changes, so do our body’s needs. Maybe, instead of cheese, my body is receiving the blessings of avocados or various other seasonal fruits from this land.
So, my galette has also changed by living here. For example, I use avocado, which I never used to use for this dish. Also, when I use some beautifully prepared vegetable dish for the topping, it is satisfying enough not to have any melted cheese. This is how I composed the dishes for this dinner. The first galette, with arugula from our garden, organic strawberries from our favorite farmer, and Fuerte avocado, which is beautifully creamy and light, and some creme de balsamic and olive oil on top. The second galette was the original inspiration for me to make this dinner—with ratatouille-caponata and egg. Then a green farmers market salad on the side. The sign of success was that my husband was in heaven!
Basic Buckwheat Galette Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup buckwheat flour
- 1 cup water
- 100ml water, enzyme juice, or beer
- salt
Directions
- Step 1 Mix buckwheat flour and water in a bowl and let sit on the counter for about 8 hours.
- Step 2 Mix 100ml water (or enzyme juice or beer) in the batter and add a pinch of salt, then mix together.
- Step 3 Heat the pan with the oil at medium high heat and pour in the batter. Spread it with the spatula.
- Step 4 If you serve without warm ingredients and/or an egg on top, heat one side well, then flip and heat the other side.
- Step 5 If you serve with the warm ingredients and/or an egg, put the egg on the heating batter, add other ingredients around the egg and heat until the backside of the galette becomes golden. Then flip the four ends of the circle to the middle and create a square shape.
- Step 6 Turn the heat to medium and heat until the egg is done.
