Ingredients
- Bakingpan (diameter 20 cm)
- Makes 8 pancakes:
- 125 g wheat flour
- 125 g buckwheat flour
- 1 sachet easy-blend/easy-bake dried yeast
- 500 ml lukewarm milk
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 4 g salt
- 3 tbsp chopped chervil
- 3 tbsp chopped chives
- 2 tbsp chopped tansy leaves
- (if unavailable: chopped sage)
- salted butter for baking and covering
- treacle
Hier komen de ingrediënten
In Belgium one of the most interesting pancake recipes from the past is the Flemish Cruydtcoeck, Kroetkoek or (Tente)groenkoek), a vegetarian pancake in which young leaves of tansy are mixed with the batter. It is supposed to be effective against worms and would stimulate blood circulation in the abdomen, resulting in a very satisfactory love-life. This type of pancake is already mentioned in a work by the Mechlin botanist Rembert Dodoens (1517-1585) and the Flemish still have a Confrérie devoted to its promotion*. Here you will find a slightly modernized recipe.
- Mix flour and yeast in a bowl. Make a well in which you pour small dashes of milk, stirring all the time and finally beating the mixture well until it becomes a smooth batter. Whisk the egg through the batter, then also the sugar, salt and herbs. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave to rise for an hour at room temperature.
- Heat butter in the pan, stir batter and pour 100 ml from a ladle, shaking the pan until the bottom is covered entirely. Bake until the upper side is dry and small holes have formed. Turn and bake the other side a light brown too.
- Eat with melted salted butter and/or treacle.
Drink: A vegetarian friend of mine always drinks champagne with this Kroetkoek, I suspect in anticipation of what she hopes will follow. But ‘Brugse Tripel’ (a strong sweetish beer from the city of Bruges) is definitely in better accordance with the place of origin of this recipe.
* B.A. de Winne-De Bodt, “Confrérie van de Cruydtcoeck en het Begijnhof van Diest”, in: Academie voor de streekgebonden gastronomie: Mededelingsblad en Verzamelde Opstellen 16, Nr. 4, Oktober 1998, pp. 62-63. For the modern version see: J. Collen & J. Lambin, Oude gebruiken en gerechten uit Limburg, Antwerpen/Amsterdam: Helios/Nederlandsche Boekhandel, [no year, (1977)], p. 38.