Tarte flambée / Flammekueche
Tarte flambée is a traditional Alsatian dish that is quite similar to pizza, but with some key differences. It's also known as Flammekueche in Alsatian and Flammkuchen in German.
The dish features a very thin crust of bread dough that's rolled out in a rectangle or circle. The dough is traditionally topped with fromage blanc or crème fraîche, thin-sliced onions, and lardons, which are small strips or cubes of pork fat. This ensemble is then baked in a very hot oven or, in some traditional settings, a wood-fired oven, which gives it a distinctive charred or "flamed" appearance, hence the name.
While the traditional tarte flambée has the ingredients mentioned above, there are several variations (you may find the website "tartes-flambees.com" to be a useful resource), including versions with mushrooms, cheese, and other ingredients.
The dessert versions also exist, with sweet toppings such as apples, cinnamon, and sweet crème fraîche.
It is a very popular dish in the regions of Alsace, Baden-Württemberg, and Pfalz, and it's often enjoyed with local white wines or beer.
The Tarte Flambée recipe shared below comes straight from a true and passionate Alsatian local, ensuring its authenticity and deep-rooted tradition.
Why do we say tarte flambée?
It is simply flammée, that is to say cooked over a flame, as the Alsatian name clearly indicates: Flammekueche.
This also explains why tartes flambées are traditionally eaten on a wooden bread shovel used by bakers.
- 1 onion
- 80 grams smoked lardons
- 150 grams dough
- 400 milliliters crème fraiche
- 1 tablespoon Colza oil
- Chop an onion and lightly fry in butter until brown.
- Mix with 40 cl. fresh cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fry 80 g of smoked lardons.
- Spread 150 g of dough on an oven dish, and fill with the onion cream mixture.
- Baste with a tablespoon of colza oil and sprinkle with lardons.
- Bake in the oven at a high temperature.
The quality of the products is essential, make sure you get high quality smoked bacon from your favorite butcher.