Crepes

Paris should have been romantic; it wasn't. The sun didn’t shine, the Louvre wasn’t open, and the metro was on strike. So I was cold, uncultured, and footsore. The stereotypical French bitterness began to make sense.

But the food! Oh, the food! How could anyone be unhappy when surrounded by moules frites, escargot, or endless baguettes topped with brie and tomatoes soaked in a tongue-titillating balsamic-and-herb-de-provence-vinaigrette? And, of course, the ubiquitous, delicious wine, always the wine. While the doors to the Louvre’s art were shut, the doors to the Parisian restaurants were wide open, and while I certainly enjoyed the fare, my funds quickly began to run short. The bitterness crept back in.

I was already stretching out the shoe-string budget by sharing a hostel room with a dozen other girls. I discovered a store around the corner that sold local wines and could buy a whole bottle for what I was spending on a glass in a sit-down restaurant. But my planned week’s stay was looking like it would need to be cut short unless I figured out how to stretch Paris to meet my meager travel stipend.

That’s when I discovered the street vendors’ crepes.

Street vendors who make crepes are close-hand magicians. These artisans pour their pale batter onto wide circular griddles heated by goodness knows what and spread them impossibly thin with wooden utensils akin to windshield wipers. These scrapings are literally scraped off into a discard bowl, wiped, and hung for the next pouring. Then they flip their alchemized batter turned solid yet floppy golden patty with long thin wands that would impress any eleven-year-old at Olivander’s. Once they had their crepes griddling on their backs, the magician would load them up with fillings of your desire. And what a menu of desire; crepes are so versatile! They can be served with mushrooms and cheese or Nutella and bananas; they are both nourishing and dessert. You needn’t stray far for a multi-course meal, whether breakfast, lunch, dinner, or whatever snack you wish for in between. Once the process was complete and the goo was transformed into your made-to-order-meal, your magician would fold them expertly into a triangular walking taco for your pleasure.

As a poor student, they fit the bill, and the romance of Paris returned through the scents of its multifaceted crepes. The Eiffel tower touched the sky with spinach, tomatoes, and feta. The Musée d'Orsay’s sculpture garden came alive with strawberries and whipped cream still on my breath.

Once I was home in the States, or as the French would say Les États Unis, I began a family, and crepes became a Saturday morning fixture. Since my daughter was allergic to dairy, I had to cobble together multiple recipes to create my own magical vehicle for her jams and coco-whips, chocolate syrup-n-bananas round-robin that satisfied her palette. At the same time, her brother stuck emphatically to Nutella & whipped cream. I personally gravitated to the spinach, mushroom, and swiss, while my husband just ate whatever was leftover from our three plates.

Though at home, we focus more on chins-over-plates than I did walking-about in Paris, it’s still nice to visit my memories on Saturday mornings.

NonDairy Crepe recipe:

• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 nondairy milk (coconut is a favorite, but rice, almond will work as well)
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Directions

1. In a blender, add all wet ingredients first: eggs first- check for shells! Then pour in the milk and oil. Sprinkle in the sugar and salt.
2. Heat an 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium. Lightly coat with oil.
3. Put the cover lightly on the blender, begin blending, then uncover to tap the flour into the cyclone center of the blender. Once it’s all dumped in, blend until smooth, about 30 seconds.
4. Pour from the blender about a 1/4 cup batter in the pan. Tilt and swirl pan until it’s an even consistency: it should be thin. Cook until you see some bubble pops on the top and using a spatula, check if the bottom is golden: about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Then flip the crepe. Cook on the second side until just set: about 45 seconds. Put on plate.
5. Repeat with remaining batter, stacking crepes directly on top of one another. Serve with sliced fruit, whipped cream, Nutella- or make it savory by using it as a wrap for scrambled eggs of any sort. To keep, refrigerate in a container for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.