How to make authentic French galettes and crêpes

You've likely heard of the French crêpe But have you ever heard of galette They may look similar but in the Brittany region of France People certainly know the difference Yes the difference is the flour A galette—well that's something else entirely You have to love it For us crêpe is sweet and galette is savory A galette is made from buckwheat and is savory And a crêpe is sweet Here in Brittany along France’s northwestern coast nearly every café and restaurant features the galette as a staple of their cuisine We'll show you what they are the most popular version and how you can make them at home To make the galette you'll need just a simple mixture of flour salt and cold water Chef Julien Hubert vigorously prepares the galette by hand following tradition The difference between a galette and a crêpe lies in the type of flour used So on a pancake we'll use wheat flour bread flour And for the galette we'll be using buckwheat flour On the crepe dough you can work directly with the crepe dough And when using buckwheat flour you must let it rest for at least 48 hours At this restaurant there are at least a dozen different types of galettes to choose from But Julien shows us how to make the most popular galette with thyme cheese eggs and a hot baking tray at 250°C So it's great to have a griddle but you can also do this just as well with a frying pan at home no problem There I'm adding some butter and we're all set since we've properly aerated our galette dough The crumb has good holes and proper aeration I'm going to put in an egg I'm spreading my white Here we have AOP Comté There I'm adding some caramelized onions to the cider And there I'll add some white ham nitrite-free Then we'll let the galette cook for a little while No more than three minutes so it doesn't burn Buckwheat arrived in Brittany during the late Middle Ages flourishing in poor soil and becoming a staple for farmers By the 16th century galette had become a hearty meal at sustained people during wheat shortages Today they've evolved into a proud Breton tradition Chef Hubert now shows us how to prepare galette's sweet counterpart This is the crepe dough made from wheat flour so eggs sugar milk and flour The process begins the same a hot griddle brushed with butter then the batter is spread evenly using a specialized crêpe spreader Be very careful with the crêpe as it cooks very quickly After about two minutes it's ready The texture of a crêpe is more tender with a gentler edge A galette offers a crispier texture and is gluten-free For me a galette is comfort food—the simple little dish that makes us feel good be comforted And when is a good time to eat them So we can enjoy a galette at this restaurant either for lunch or dinner And a pancake for dessert or for a snack Rugged shores stormy skies and galette—proud emblems of Brittany's identity They first symbolize a region Before being a dish with a flavor to me it's a region And that's the key difference between a galette and a crêpe And you would you like to try a taste