A dense, dark, eggy baked flan from Brittany, the firm vanilla batter set like a thick clafoutis around rum-soaked Agen prunes that sink into the custard and turn jammy at its burnished, butter-edged surface
Origin: Brittany, France
From the journey of Plum.
Far is one of the oldest dishes of Brittany, its name taken from the Latin far, the coarse wheat porridge of the Roman world, and in its earliest form it was exactly that: a savoury gruel of buckwheat or wheat flour boiled in a cloth, the everyday sustenance of Breton farm labourers. Over the centuries the porridge migrated towards the sweet, the cloth gave way to the oven, and eggs, milk, sugar, and butter turned a peasant staple into the dense baked flan known today, somewhere between a clafoutis and a baked custard, firm enough to slice yet trembling at its heart. The defining ingredient is the prune, and specifically the prune d'Agen, the dried plum of Gascony in France's south-west, made from the prune d'Ente (Prunus domestica) that the region has cultivated since the Middle Ages. That a Breton dessert should be built around a south-western fruit is no accident: dried prunes travelled and kept where fresh fruit could not, and they reached the Atlantic ports of Brittany along the same trade routes that carried salt, wine, and grain. Traditionally the prunes are plumped in tea, in rum, or in the local cider before baking, and the version studded with prunes, the far aux pruneaux, is so much the standard that the bare custard, far nature, is regarded almost as an incomplete thing. A fine far is recognised by its burnished, blistered top, its butter-darkened edges, and a body so dense that a slice holds its shape on the plate, eaten cool and unadorned as the homely, beloved Sunday cake of every Breton household.
The prune d'Agen is not interchangeable with any dried plum: its deep, almost caramel sweetness and supple flesh are what give the far its character, so seek out true Agen prunes (often labelled pruneaux d'Agen) rather than ordinary dried prunes where you can. Soaking in rum is the most common modern treatment, but tea was the older and more frugal choice, and Breton cider is the most regional of all. Some families add raisins alongside the prunes, others a spoonful of orange-flower water; both are accepted local variations. The batter is forgiving and needs no resting, which is part of the dish's enduring appeal as the unfussy, dependable dessert of the Breton week.
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