Culture

Back when I was at high school (to make certain people feel old, that was a mere six years ago) we had a French exchange student called Alan. It sounds terrible, but we used to exploit him for his crepe making abilities. After all, he was French – this sort of thing is automatically programmed into his being. His crepes were amazing and the only ones I’ve tried since that rival his are those made by other French people.

My good friend Alix and I took a trip to the markets and got Nutella crepes and gelato for breakfast last Saturday. We are both greedy and couldn’t get enough of the crepes so we made them for dinner that same night. These savoury ones may or may not have been followed by dessert crepes filled with condensed milk, Nutella and caramel ...

We turned to the wonderful Julia Child for guidance. Crepe recipes are really simple; flour, eggs, milk, butter and water are all you will need. After you whizz it all up in a blender, let it sit and rest for at least an hour so that the bubbles settle and rise to the top. This will make for a thinner crepe.

You want to cook these in a really good non-stick pan. For those of you on a budget may I recommend the six-dollar non-stick skillets from Kmart. I bought my mother one and it still continues to blow her $300 Circulon out of the water.

Experiment with your fillings and use what you have available. I have listed what we had in ours.

Ingredients

Serves 4 (plus a few extra for dessert)
Adapted from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking

• 1 cup cold water


• 1 cup milk


• 4 eggs


• 60g butter, melted


• 1 ½ cups plain flour


• A pinch of salt

Filling Ideas
Grated cheese, ham, Brie, cherry tomatoes, baby spinach leaves, red onion, chutney, cream cheese (as much or as little as you want )

Method

1. Heat your non-stick pan to a medium high heat. Preheat the oven to a warming 100 degrees and place a plate inside. Once the pan is hot, pour enough batter (1/4 - 1/3 of a cup) onto the surface. With your other hand tilt the pan to spread the batter everywhere in a circular shape. Once the edges start to brown, use your fingers to flip the crepe over to cook the other side. Once golden brown, transfer to the plate in the oven to keep warm and continue until all are cooked. You may need a few goes to get the amount of batter needed to achieve a thin coating over all the pan just right.


2. Once all the crepes are cooked, assemble them by placing the desired filling in one quarter of the crepe. Fold in half then fold in the sides to make a cone, and serve. Devour with your hands like a taco or, in a more sophisticated manner, with a knife and fork.


3. These are surprisingly filling and so easy to make!