Galette Complète

the lacy, nutty, slate-grey buckwheat pancake of Brittany folded into a square around grated cheese, ham, and a sunny egg, the savoury galette de blé noir that Brittany gave to all of France

Origin: France (Brittany)

From the journey of Buckwheat.

Buckwheat, blé noir or sarrasin, was for centuries the grain of the Breton poor, suited as no cereal was to the cool, damp climate and the poor acid granite soils of the peninsula, and from it Brittany made the galette, the savoury buckwheat pancake that is the region's great gift to French cooking. A simple batter of buckwheat flour, water, and salt, rested and then spread thin across a great flat griddle called a billig, cooks into a wide, lacy, slate-grey round with a nutty, faintly bitter flavour all its own. In its most famous form, the galette complète, the pancake is topped while still on the griddle with grated cheese, a slice of ham, and an egg cracked into the centre to cook sunny-side up, and the four sides are folded up to frame the egg in a neat square. Eaten with a bowl of dry Breton cider, and traditionally followed by a sweet wheat-flour crêpe, the galette complète is the most celebrated of all the savoury uses of buckwheat in the West.

Ingredients

The Galette Batter

250 g buckwheat flour
1 tsp fine salt
1 egg (optional, for a more pliable galette)
500 ml cold water, approximately
butter, for the pan

The Filling

4 eggs
4 slices good cooked ham
150 g Gruyère or Emmental, grated
black pepper, to taste

Method

Whisk the buckwheat flour and salt with the egg, if using, and enough cold water to make a smooth, thin batter, about the consistency of single cream. Cover and rest in the fridge for at least an hour, or overnight.
Heat a large flat crêpe pan or wide frying pan over a medium-high heat and grease lightly with butter. Pour in a small ladle of batter and quickly spread it thin and wide, using the back of the ladle or a spreader, into a round about 25 cm across.
Cook for about 2 minutes, until the underside is set, dry, and lightly browned and the galette lifts easily. Scatter the grated cheese over the surface, lay a slice of ham in the middle, and crack an egg into the centre.
Cover loosely for a minute or two to help the egg white set while the yolk stays soft. The cheese should melt and the ham warm through.
Fold the four sides of the galette up over the filling to make a square, framing the egg in the centre. Slide onto a warm plate, grind over a little pepper, and serve at once.

Notes

The classic galette batter is purely buckwheat flour, water, and salt; the egg is an optional modern addition for pliability. Buckwheat is naturally gluten-free, but check your flour is not blended if that matters. Other fillings (mushrooms, cheese and spinach, andouille sausage) follow the same method; the complète, with ham, cheese, and egg, is the canonical one.

The Gastrographer

Name: Galette Complète
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h 35 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 250 g buckwheat flour; 1 tsp fine salt; 1 egg (optional, for a more pliable galette); 500 ml cold water, approximately; butter, for the pan; 4 eggs; 4 slices good cooked ham; 150 g Gruyère or Emmental, grated; black pepper, to taste

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control