 Flamiche picarde | |
| Type | Pie |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | France |
| Region or state | Alsace, Burgundy, Picardy |
| Main ingredients | Leeks, cream |
Flamiche is a French savoury pastry, originating in the north-west of 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]
Larousse Gastronomique is an encyclopedia of gastronomy. The majority of the book is about French cuisine, and contains recipes for French dishes and cooking techniques. The first edition included few non-French dishes and ingredients; later editions include many more. The book was originally published by Éditions Larousse in Paris in 1938.
Puff pastry, also known as pâte feuilletée, is a flaky light pastry made from a laminated dough composed of dough and butter or other solid fat. The butter is put inside the dough, making a paton that is repeatedly folded and rolled out before baking.
Gnocchi are a varied family of dumplings in Italian cuisine. They are made of small lumps of dough most traditionally composed of a simple combination of wheat flour, egg, salt, and potato. 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.
A croissant is a buttery, flaky, viennoiserie pastry inspired by the shape of the Austrian kipferl but using the French yeast-leavened laminated dough. Croissants are named for their historical crescent shape. The dough is layered with butter, rolled and folded several times in succession, then rolled into a thin sheet, in a technique called laminating. The process results in a layered, flaky texture, similar to a puff pastry.
Spanakopita is a Greek savory spinach pie. It often also contains cheese, typically feta, and may then be called spanakotiropita, especially in northern Greece. In southern Greece, the term spanakopita is also common for the versions with cheese. A version without cheese and eggs is eaten during religious fasts throughout Greece.
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 bread 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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A profiterole, cream puff (US), or chou à la crème is a filled French and Italian choux pastry ball with a typically sweet and moist filling of whipped cream, custard, pastry cream, or ice cream. The puffs may be decorated or left plain or garnished with chocolate sauce, caramel, or a dusting of powdered sugar. Savory profiterole are also made, filled with pureed meats, cheese, and so on. These were formerly common garnishes for soups.
A rissole is a small patty created in France, enclosed in pastry, or rolled in breadcrumbs, usually baked or deep fried. The filling has savory ingredients, most often minced meat, fish or cheese, and is served as an entrée, main course, or side dish.
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.
An éclair is a pastry made with choux dough filled with a cream and topped with a flavored icing. The dough, which is the same as that used for profiterole, is typically piped into an oblong shape with a pastry bag and baked until it is crisp and hollow inside. Once cool, the pastry is filled with custard, whipped cream or chiboust cream, then iced with fondant icing. Other fillings include pistachio- and rum-flavoured custard, fruit-flavoured fillings, or chestnut purée. The icing is sometimes caramel, in which case the dessert may be called a bâton de Jacob. A similar pastry in a round rather than oblong shape is called a religieuse.
Gözleme is a savory Turkish stuffed turnover. The dough is usually unleavened, and made only with flour, salt and water, but gözleme can be made from yeast dough as well. It is similar to bazlama, but is lightly brushed with butter or oil, whereas bazlama is prepared without fat. The dough is rolled thin, then filled with various toppings, sealed, and cooked over a griddle. Gözleme may sometimes be made from prepackaged hand-rolled leaves of yufka dough.
A friand is a small almond cake, popular in Australia and New Zealand, closely related to the French financier.
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.