Thin Buckwheat Pancakes (Galettes de sarrasin)

Galettes de sarrasin are a popular classic in France from Brittany. Thin buckwheat pancakes are naturally gluten free, inexpensive and easy to make at home. This authentic savoury recipe uses water, not milk and is served with the traditional fillings below, such as the 'complète'.

I love this recipe for galettes. We cannot buy them in Scotland so I have to make them. It’s a favourite for lunch filled with ham and cheese.

June

Difference Between Galettes de Sarrasin and Regular Crêpes Pancakes

Many people are often confused in France between a thin buckwheat pancake (galette de sarrasin) and a crêpe. They are not the same. Basically, galettes de sarrasin are savoury, while crêpes are sweet French pancakes.

The savoury galette is made with buckwheat flour (known as farine de sarrasin or blé noir in Brittany), while regular French pancakes or crêpes are made using normal wheat flour (T45).
As a result, even their flavour is different. Buckwheat also lends its particular curious toasted taste to it, which lends better to savoury. So the galette sarrasin fillings are salty while crêpes have sweet toppings - try these chocolate crêpes!

The only element they both have in common is that both pancakes are ultra thin.

Are Galettes de Sarrasin from Brittany or Normandy?

It's controversial in France. Ask a Breton and buckwheat pancakes are from Brittany, served with cider from Brittany; ask a Normand and they are from Normandy, served with Normandy cidre!
Incidentally, see my crêperie suggestions in my article, 10 Reasons to Visit Honfleur, Normandy.

Differences in French Buckwheat and Plain Flour Galettes in Brittany

Buckwheat galettes, however, are considered a speciality from Brittany. They have 2 recipe variations based around the flour used.

• In Haute-Bretagne, known as the pays de Breizh in the north, their galettes are traditionally made of 100% buckwheat (sarrasin). French buckwheat pancakes are also known as "crêpe de blé noir". Literally 'black flour', it is indeed dark so don't be put off by its colour. The taste is typical. Although wheat or blé in it's name, it's nothing to do with wheat flour, as it's gluten free.
• Further south, in Basse-Bretagne, they are made with a mixture of mainly buckwheat and up to 30% of white wheat flour (farine de froment or farine de blé).

Are Buckwheat Pancakes Good for You?

Buckwheat flour is particularly healthy as it contains more dietary fibre than regular white flour. According to my Larousse Gastronomique, buckwheat is also rich in minerals and vitamin B and less calorific than regular wheat. Considered a superfood by many, it's low to medium on the glycemic index (GI) for those with diabetes.

As it's also grain free, it's added to the growing list of gluten free recipes. All this is just the galettes de sarrasin on their own. Of course, it all depends what you put on them!

Thin Buckwheat Pancakes

I normally add an egg to the buckwheat batter just to give the pancakes that extra light fluffiness. However, it's not essential. To make this recipe vegan, just omit the egg for the buckwheat pancake batter.

What's more, making these vegan without the egg in the batter doesn't mean they can't be light. Just adapt the fillings to your favourite vegan savoury choice.

Are They the Same as Thin Pancakes Served with Caviar?

In Russia, the thin, small crêpes or pancakes traditionally served with caviar are not the same as Galettes de Sarrasin. Called Blini, they are much smaller, thicker and instead made with plain wheat flour, baking powder, milk and butter.

How to Make Savoury Buckwheat Pancakes

Galettes de sarrasin are so cheap to make at home.
Just plan to make the batter in advance as it needs to rest for at least 2 hours or overnight before preparing them. For precise measurements, see the recipe card below.

Place the buckwheat flour in a large bowl. Whisk in the fresh organic egg (or sparkling water if you prefer), the salt (ideally from Brittany's Guérande) and gradually add the water until well blended and smooth.

Leave the batter covered for at least 2 hours at room temperature (or overnight in the fridge). If in the fridge, bring the batter up to room temperature when ready to cook. Whisk in the rest of the water.

Add a knob of salted butter to a very hot crêpe pan (this will ensure the first pancake will be good too).

Using about half a ladle of the batter, work quickly by swirling the batter evenly around the surface of the pan.

Cook for a couple of minutes on medium heat then flip the pancake over for another minute, brushing with a little butter.

Stack the galettes on a plate and when finished, place an inverted plate on top to keep them moist. When ready to serve, prepare the classic fillings to your taste below.

How to Make a 'Complète' Galette de Sarrasin

To make a classic French Complète is simple. It's a savoury buckwheat pancake with ham, cheese and egg:

• Place the galette in the hot crêpe pan, crack an egg into the middle, spreading around the white to cover most of the surface.
• Break up ham into bits and place with grated cheese around the egg yolk.
• Fold over 4 times like an envelope into a square to meet the egg yolk in the middle without touching (don't pierce the egg yolk!)
• Add a little extra butter on top of the pancake and serve.

A Note on Eggs in France

As you can see from the photos, when eggs are served on a galette, they are always sunny side up (oeuf miroir). Although cooked well underneath, they do still look a little raw.

While this isn't a problem for us in France as our organic eggs are so fresh and good quality, I appreciate that some American friends reading this may be worried about serving eggs not completely cooked through.

If you prefer to cook your eggs on both sides, then flip the galette over (carefully so as not to pierce the yolk!) with the egg in the middle only for up to a minute. This will lightly cook the egg and the yolk will still be runny. Although please remember that this isn't the norm in crêperies here in France as it's not something you should be worried about.

Classic Fillings and How to Serve Buckwheat Pancakes

In typical crêperies around France, the following classic fillings for buckwheat galettes are on every menu. Ask for 'une complète', and everyone will understand what you're asking for. The rest are normally specialities of the house - mainly around cheese, including a variation of a warm goat's cheese salad.

The simplest on the menu is "beurre": a plain, thin buckwheat pancake with melted salted butter. Worth a taste indeed! When that comes, you can be rest assured it's only with the best butter, such as Bordier.

Galettes are normally served with a simple green salad and fresh herbs (I like to add some toasted walnuts) and une bolée (bowl) of dry cidre (between 2-8% alcohol). For more on Cidre, see the market page on apples.

• Beurre - the simplest served topped with melted salted butter.
• Complète - ham, cheese and egg (jambon blanc, fromage, oeuf).
• Complète oignons - as above but also with onions, typically sweet rosé Roscoff - speciality of Brittany.
• Florentine - spinach, cheese and egg.
• Forestière - mushrooms, cheese and egg (sometimes also with ham).

Love savoury pancakes like these? Then try cottage cheese pancakes with pumpkin.

This post has been updated, to correct my error in water quantities and equivalents in cups. This also includes 30% of plain flour instead of only 20% as an option. My sincere apologies, as I copied down my notes incorrectly.