 Flamiche picarde | |
| Type | Pie |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | France |
| Region or state | |
| Main ingredients | Leeks, cream |
Flamiche is a French savoury pastry, originating in the north-west France. It dates to medieval times and originally was a kind of galette, but in its modern version is a tart made with leeks and cream.
Two possible derivations have been advanced for the word flamiche: either that it comes from flamme, 'flame', as the dish was traditionally cooked in a wood-burning oven, or that it is a corruption of vlamiche – Flemish (the dish being native to north-west France, close to the border with Flanders). [1]
The term dates from medieval times. Jean Froissart's Chronicles , dating from the 14th century, mention people eating "a little torte in the manner of a flamiche or beignet to comfort their stomachs". [2] In his Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues (1611), Randle Cotgrave applies the term to "a cake made of butter, cheese, flower, and yolkes of egges". [3] [n 1]
The 18th-century scholar Legrand d'Aussy described the flamiche as it was made in his time: "It is a kind of galette made with baker's dough. It is rolled out with a rolling pin and put in the oven while the wood is burning. As soon as it has been thoroughly heated, it is taken out of the oven and spread with butter. It is eaten as soon as it comes out of the oven". [4] In his Encyclopédie méthodique (1782) Jacques Lacombe describes a flamiche as "A kind of pastry made with salty fatty cheese, butter, eggs, flour & seasoning. The dough is cut into thick pieces of two fingers, and baked in the oven". [5]
As late as the 1880s there is no mention of leeks in the definition in the Dictionnaire de la langue française: "Name, in some provinces, of a pastry made of cheese, butter and eggs", [6] but in 1910 a French journal described a flamiche as "a flour dough, buttered inside with leeks cut into small pieces", originating in Péronne, Somme. [1] In Larousse Gastronomique (1938), Prosper Montagné wrote, "Nowadays the name flamiche is given to a kind of leek tart made in Burgundy and Picardy." In 1998, Simon Hopkinson wrote of "La Flamiche aux Poireaux: a buttery leek pie – a famed speciality of Alsatian cookery". [7] Montagné does not specify the type of pastry to be used; Hopkinson uses puff; Elizabeth David suggests a crumbly shortcrust; [8] Anne Willan uses a yeast dough similar to that used in pizzas. [9] Clarissa Dickson Wright specifies a brioche dough, and although her recipe contains leeks, she comments that flamiche "can be filled with whatever you like". [10]
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit, nuts, fruit preserves, brown sugar, sweetened vegetables, or with thicker fillings based on eggs and dairy. Savoury pies may be filled with meat, eggs and cheese or a mixture of meat and vegetables.
Gnocchi are a varied family of dumpling in Italian cuisine. They are made of small lumps of dough, such as those composed of a simple combination of wheat flour, potato, egg, and salt. Variations of the dish supplement the simple recipe with flavour additives, such as semolina flour, cheese, breadcrumbs, cornmeal or similar ingredients, and possibly including herbs, vegetables, and other ingredients. Base ingredients may be substituted with alternatives such as sweet potatoes for potatoes or rice flour for wheat flour. Such variations are often considered to be non-traditional.
Savory spinach pie is a pastry eaten throughout the Balkans. The filling is made of chopped spinach and usually feta or white cheese, and egg.
Quiche is a French tart consisting of pastry crust filled with savoury custard and pieces of cheese, meat, seafood or vegetables. A well-known variant is quiche lorraine, which includes lardons or bacon. Quiche may be served hot, warm or cold.
Brioche is a pastry of French origin whose high egg and butter content gives it a rich and tender crumb. The chef Joël Robuchon described it as "light and slightly puffy, more or less fine, according to the proportion of butter and eggs". It has a dark, golden, and flaky crust, frequently accentuated by an egg wash applied after proofing.
Quiche Lorraine is a French tart with a filling made of cream, eggs, and bacon or ham, in an open pastry case. It was little known outside the French region of Lorraine until the mid-20th century. As its popularity spread, nationally and internationally, the addition of cheese became commonplace, although it was criticised as inauthentic. The dish may be served hot, warm or cold.
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Galette is a term used in French cuisine to designate various types of flat round or freeform crusty cakes, or, in the case of a Breton galette, a pancake made with buckwheat flour usually with a savoury filling. Of the cake type of galette, one notable variety is the galette des Rois eaten on the day of Epiphany. In French Canada the term galette is usually applied to pastries best described as large cookies.
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Gratin is a culinary technique in which an ingredient is topped with a browned crust, often using breadcrumbs, grated cheese, egg or butter. The term may be applied to any dish made using this method. Gratin is usually prepared in a shallow dish of some kind. A gratin is baked or cooked under an overhead grill or broiler to form a golden crust on top and is often served in its baking dish.
A gougère, in French cuisine, is a baked savory choux pastry made of choux dough mixed with cheese. There are many variants. The cheese is commonly grated Gruyère, Comté, or Emmentaler, but there are many variants using other cheeses or other ingredients.
Chouquettes or petits choux are small pieces of French patisserie consisting of small spheres of choux pastry, sugared and baked. The term was known in the 16th century, and was originally applied to small savoury spheres. Since the late 17th century choquettes have been sweet.
Tarte à l'oignon or Zewelwaï is a savoury tart with a baked filling of onions and cream. It is a speciality of the French region of Alsace, and may be served hot, warm or at room temperature. It is typically served as a starter.