The origin of a festive dish
It is difficult to determine the exact date when the famous tarte flambée was born. However, historians presume that it would have appeared as early as the 18th century.e century, in the Kochersberg region, in the north of Alsace.
At the time,flamekueche were prepared on the day the bread was baked, every two or three weeks. The opportunity to organize a big celebration, where each village came together. The farmers thus took advantage of the strong heat of the wood-fired ovens to bake pancakes, made with the remaining bread dough. They were then topped with curdled milk, which was later replaced by cottage cheese, onions and bacon.
Once cooked, theflammekueche were cut up with a shovel, everyone rolling out their part to eat by hand. Moreover, even today, Alsatians eatflammekueche with their fingers. Some will even tell you that it’s even better if it’s hot.
If we want to quibble over words, we should rather talk about tarte flammée rather than tarte flambée. In fact, theflammekueche is not soaked in alcohol, but simply cooked in the flame. Now that you know, you will be happy to correct family and friends at your nextflamekueche evening.
Some tips for making homemade flamekueche
No yeast
Flammekueche is often defined as thinly rolled out bread dough, garnished with cottage cheese, onions and bacon. However, while bread contains yeast,flamekueche dough is only made with flour, water, oil and salt. The absence of yeast is precisely what allows you to obtain such a crispy result.
2 millimeters
Aside from the composition of the dough, part of the crunchiness offlammekueche lies in its thickness. Be careful not to exceed 2 mm in thickness when you spread it, for optimal results.
300°C
This is the temperature at which theflamkueche should be cooked for 3 minutes. However, some ovens cannot exceed 250°C, it is possible to cook it for up to 7 minutes at maximum heat.
Forget precooking
Some recipes recommend browning the onions and bacon before filling the dough. This is not necessary, however, they will have plenty of time to cook, thanks to the high heat. So add the raw filling, as recommended in traditional recipes.
The recipe for homemadeflamekueche
Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 7 minutes
For 6 persons
Dough
- 300 g of T 55 flour
- 1 tbsp. teaspoon of salt
- 6 ml of sunflower oil
- 120 ml of lukewarm water
The garnish
- 200 g of white cheese
- 100g heavy cream
- 2 large onions
- 200 g smoked brisket
- freshly ground pepper
- nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 250°C.
Put the flour in a salad bowl with the salt and oil.
Add the water gradually. Knead the dough until it forms a homogeneous and elastic ball.
Roll out the dough to 2 mm thickness. Place it on a baking tray covered with parchment paper.
Mix the fromage blanc and the heavy cream. Spread this mixture over the entire surface of the dough. Slice the onions into strips, cut the smoked brisket into matchsticks. Garnish theflammekueche with onions and bacon.
Finish by sprinkling a pinch of grated nutmeg and freshly ground pepper.
Bake theflamekueche for 7 min.
Don’t forget to taste it like the Alsatians, together, by rolling the pieces between your fingers.
Variants offlammekueche
Like pizza, tarte flambée can be adapted according to your wishes. Vegetarian, with seasonal vegetables, topped with spread for dessert… There are many possibilities starting with a simple rhumkueche dough.
Here are the most popular toppings.
- Gratinée: onions, bacon, grated emmental
- Forestière: onions, bacon, mushrooms
- Munster: onions, bacon, munster
- Salmon: onions, smoked salmon
- Sweet: apples, cinnamon, Calvados flambé
More daring, our oyster mushroom and gorgonzola tarte flambée or our raw ham and lump roe flamekueche will delight the most demanding taste buds. As for those in a hurry, there is no doubt that our flambé baguettes will be perfect for an impromptu meal or aperitif.
E Güeter*!
* “Bon appetit” in Alsatian.
