Saturday, March 26, 2011
CREPES: THE NEW PIZZA?
A while back I blogged about a local pizza-by-the-slice business that was making out like Gangbusters. They fronted on a busy street that had lots of foot traffic, and they were near a bus stop that was never empty. Not only that but the pizza was delicious...the owners must have done "Tampopo"-type research on the recipe. And it was cheap! My guess is that they sold the pizza for cost and made their money on the drinks. Pretty smart.
I wish somebody would sell crepes like that. I love crepes, and they're perfect for eating on the run. Watch the video above, which shows how Parisian street crepes are made. They're cheap to make and can rival sit-down restaurants for quality when they're made right.
It helps if crepe vendors put on a show. This guy is selling pancakes in India, and I'll bet he gets huge crowds.
Er...maybe I'm splitting hairs here, but I'll digress to say that crepes aren't exactly pancakes. They're thin and buttery, and don't rise like pancakes because they don't contain yeast. It's a different experience. A crepe is a thoroughbred among pancakes. With the right handling they're serious gourmet food.
Crepes Suzettes, the crepes that are made with cognac and set on fire are, after all, just orange-flavored crepes. You can make this dish cheap at home with recipes from the internet. If you don't have Grand Marnier or Cointreau try brandy, which is a lot cheaper, but which may not contain enough alcohol to burn. The TV cook Alto Brown claims it doesn't matter because the crepes taste better if doused with booze and not set on fire.
Come to think of it, Crepes Suzettes could be street food too, minus the alcohol. They still taste really good, alcohol or no.
Am I thinking about dumping cartooning in order to sell crepes on the street? Nope, no way. I just wish someone else would do it so I could get some good, cheap food.
P.S. Here's a fascinating variation on the classic recipe. It sounds like it could work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzdbG3f3vQo&feature=related
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6 comments:
Sounds very delicious.
Interesting. I've never had a crepe before, so I can't really add much to the conversation, but there was something I was meaning to ask you about in the last post that I forgot to.
Have you checked out or heard about the new cartoon web channel, Kaboing TV? Even though the budgets for these cartoons may be limited, they still manage to be really fun to watch. The third episode honestly has the most funny animation so far, so I recommend that you watch that one first, which is right on the URL link. I'm not trying to spam here, but I just wanted to let you know.
a slight correction- putting crepes in the pancake family is like putting a thoroughbred horse in a dog race.
you're right about the cheap-n-easy-to-make part, though. They're a really favorite in our family, we make huge stacks of 'em, and eat them rolled up with confectioner's sugar in them, or fresh fruits like strawberries and blueberries that've been warmed-over; in the absence of fresh fruits, plain old jelly works great too.
never done the crepe suzette though
Here in Berlin we got the crepe as street food all over the place. There's the crepe joints in the train stations, which are usually part of a chain. Many of these are also ice cream parlors, and often run by cheery older Asian ladies. They'll run you €3,00, maybe, but they've got all sorts of various nuts, fruits, and other toppings. Not so big on the savory-style, however.
And then there's the real street crepes. There's a few really anonymous carts outside of office buildings and near the touristy spots in the center of the city. They've got a hot griddle, an umbrella, and nutella, bananas, strawberries, and Grand Marnier on display. They range from the Cinammon Sugar crepe for €1, to the Suzette for €4. In between there are various combinations of the aforementioned ingredients, as well as ham, cheese, and eggs, sometimes. Total steal.
Eric: Oh man, I wish we had street vendors like that here. Of course we have some pretty good pizza by the slice!
There is La Frite in Sherman Oaks and Woodland Hills, a French restaurant that serves its version of crepes. The one in Sherman Oaks features a black and yellow striped awning and is on the north side of Ventura Blvd.
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