Our weekly “À Table”dinner series gets its name from the mealtime call to the dining table. Since 2018, we have invited friends new and old to share a meal focusing on food, music and traditions from various places in the Francophone world. It has proved to be a fun way to connect with friends and practice our spoken French. Here on our site, we share portraits of some of our favorite meals so that you can easily do a version of the same chez vous Bon Appétit!
One of the O.G. À Tables, we have been serving this Alsacian treat to anyone who will come help us practice our spoken French.
recipe
Tarte Flambée
Whether you call it Tarte Flambée (French) or Flammekuche (Alsacian), this flatbread originating in the Alsace at the border of France and Germany, is delicious.
I think I first enjoyed it in Germany, where they refer to it as Flammkuchen), but the basic principle is a thin dough, with crème fraîche smeared across it, and a selection of toppings. Most traditional would be onions and lardons (bacon), with Forestière (with mushrooms), or Gratinée (with Gruyère cheese) close seconds.
It isn’t the easiest to cook for a hungry crowd, but if I could do it a dozen times in a tiny Brooklyn apartment as we all crowded around our table-cum-kitchen counter, you can do it, too.
One solution is to roll out the dough ahead of time and stack them separated with parchment paper (which you will use to cook them anyway), This helps the process go a bit quicker, so that when one tarte comes out of the oven, the next can go right in. Your hangry kids will thank you.
Tarte Flambée
Equipment
- A pizza stone is helpful but not required.
- Parchment paper is also helpful.
Ingredients
The Dough
- 3 cups flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt (Diamond brand)
- 4 1/2 tbsp vegetable, canola or olive oil (next time try butter!)
- 1 egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 cup room temperature water
The Cream Sauce
- 7 oz crème fraîche ~200 grams
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- ¼ tsp freshly grated black pepper or more to taste
- 1 tsp whole milk or cream optional, if needed to make more liquid-y and easily spreadable
Savory Toppings Ideas
- scallion, sliced thin
- pancetta or bacon, chopped and cooked
- Gruyère or Emmenthal cheese, sliced into thin strips or grated
- sliced saucisson or salami, cut into strips
- ham, sliced into strips
- mushrooms, sautéed, with truffle salt also good with fontina cheese
Dessert Topping Ideas
- Nutella
- berries and a tad of Marnier
Instructions
- Toppings prep: Cook pancetta over medium heat until done and almost brown. Do not overcook. Chop/sauté mushrooms in melted butter (or pancetta drippings), if using. Sprinkle with truffle salt, cover and keep aside.
- Prepare dough: Mix the flour, baking powder and salt, then use a fork to add the oil and egg, until well distributed and crumbly-looking. Add 2/3 of the water and mix, until a shaggy dough forms. SLOWLY, add additional water as needed. Knead in the bowl for a few minutes until dough becomes smooth and elastic-y. Cover with plastic and keep aside until ready to use.
- Prepare cream sauce: mix the crème fraîche, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add a bit of milk or creme if it the crème fraîche is quite thick, but if it's spreadable skip it and just keep the cream sauce aside. You are aiming for smoothie consistency; not too liquid-y but also not super thick.
- At go time: Put your pizza stone (or heated flat cookie/pizza sheet) in the oven and pre-heat to 425. Prepare pizza stone- or pan-sized pieces of parchment paper for easy transition from counter to oven.
- Roll that dough thin: Divide dough into at least tennis ball pieces (or size according to your pan/pizza stone), and one at a time, roll out the dough with a heavy roller, and use your muscles to make it quite thin. Rolling it out on a piece of parchment paper makes it easy to stack and transport for later.
- Assemble tarte flambée: When the oven is hot, place the first piece of dough-topped parchment paper into the oven and cook for one minute then check to see if it is beginning to look cooked and not yet brown. It may puff up and that's fine If has cooked lightly, carefully remove it by sliding the parchment paper onto a cutting board or other flat tray. Spread some crème fraîche mixture and any toppings (more sparingly than a typical American pizza, mind you), and pop it back in the oven for another 3 minutes until the crust is has browned and toppings are ready. Meanwhile, start prepping the next tarte to go into the oven as soon as this one is done. When fully cooked, allow to cool momentarily on a cutting board before cutting with a pizza cutter.
Notes
- The dough freezes well if wrapped appropriately. Defrost for a few hours in the fridge.
Bonus
Game: 20 Questions
This French-ified game comes with big thanks to Sarah and family who happened to come over on an À Table evening that we didn’t have our printed Parlez Français le Jeux game because we had forgotten we had lent it to a friend.
Sarah suggested the game 20 Questions, but played in French, and I had to wonder why I had never thought of that?! Brilliant!
You probably already know how to play, but if not, here is a very brief tutorial:
One person chooses a person, place, or thing, and keeps it in their head, not revealing it to anyone. Then, the guessing begins! Other players must ask questions that can only be answered with a “yes” or “no,” in an attempt to figure out what the person has chosen to “be,” and with each answer the subsequent questions should bring players closer to the answer. The most fun way is to take turns going around the table asking question as a “team,” trying to figure it out before getting to 20.
20 questions
To get you started with some of the basic questions, we have this printable on our Etsy page here.
Or, if you just need more explanation on the game itself, head to the 20 Questions Wikipedia pages,
music
French Favs
For this À Table installment, we’ll stay with the greatest hits: our continually-updated playlist of favorite French-language songs. Put it on shuffle and enjoy.
Santé and bon appètit!
