''Flamiche'' () is a French savoury

pastry Pastry refers to a variety of Dough, doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury Baking, baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often descr ...

, originating in the north-west

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It dates to medieval times and originally was a kind of

galette Galette (from the Norman language, Norman word ''gale'', meaning 'flat cake') is a term used in French cuisine to designate various types of flat round or freeform crusty cakes, or, in the case of a Breton galette ( ; ), a pancake made with buck ...

, but in its modern version is a tart made with leeks and cream.

Etymology

Two possible derivations have been advanced for the word ''flamiche'': either that it comes from , 'flame', as the dish was traditionally cooked in a wood-burning oven, or that it is a corruption of – Flemish (the dish being native to north-west France, close to the border with Flanders).Thiéry, Maurice
"La Flamiche"
''Le Journal des confiseurs, pâtissiers, glaciers, fabricants de chocolats, biscuits, fruits confits, confitures, conserves, etc'', 1 September 1910, pp. 278–278

History

The term dates from medieval times.

Jean Froissart Jean Froissart ( Old and Middle French: ''Jehan''; sometimes known as John Froissart in English; – ) was a French-speaking medieval author and court historian from the Low Countries who wrote several works, including ''Chronicles'' and ''Meli ...

's '' Chronicles'', dating from the 14th century, mention people eating "a little

torte A torte (; from (), in turn from Latin language, Latin via ) is a rich, usually Layer cake, multilayered, cake that is filled with whipped cream, buttercreams, mousses, Fruit preserves#Jam, jams, or fruit. Tortes are commonly baked in a spri ...

in the manner of a ''flamiche'' or beignet to comfort their stomachs". In his ''Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues'' (1611), Randle Cotgrave applies the term to "a cake made of butter, cheese, flower, and yolkes of egges". The 18th-century scholar Legrand d'Aussy described the ''flamiche'' as it was made in his time: "It is a kind of

made with baker's dough. It is rolled out with a rolling pin and put in the oven while the wood is burning. As soon as it has been thoroughly heated, it is taken out of the oven and spread with butter. It is eaten as soon as it comes out of the oven". In his '' Encyclopédie méthodique'' (1782) Jacques Lacombe describes a ''flamiche'' as "A kind of pastry made with salty fatty cheese, butter, eggs, flour & seasoning. The dough is cut into thick pieces of two fingers, and baked in the oven".

Modern version

As late as the 1880s there is no mention of

leek A leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of Leaf sheath, leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a "s ...

s in the definition in the : "Name, in some provinces, of a pastry made of cheese, butter and eggs", but in 1910 a French journal described a ''flamiche'' as "a flour dough, buttered inside with leeks cut into small pieces", originating in Péronne, Somme. In (1938),

Prosper Montagné Prosper Montagné (; 14 November 1865 – 22 April 1948) was one of the most renowned French chefs of the Belle Époque and author of many books and articles on food, cooking, and gastronomy, notably '' Larousse Gastronomique'' (1938), an encyclo ...

wrote, "Nowadays the name ''flamiche'' is given to a kind of leek tart made in

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

and

Picardy Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...

." In 1998, Simon Hopkinson wrote of "La Flamiche aux Poireaux: a buttery leek pie – a famed speciality of Alsatian cookery".Hopkinson, p. 169 Montagné does not specify the type of pastry to be used; Hopkinson uses puff;

Elizabeth David Elizabeth David ( Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and books about Europea ...

suggests a crumbly shortcrust; Anne Willan uses a yeast dough similar to that used in

pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

s. Clarissa Dickson Wright specifies a

brioche Brioche (, also , , ) is a bread of French origin whose high egg and butter content gives it a rich and tender crumb. Chef Joël Robuchon described it as "light and slightly puffy, more or less fine, according to the proportion of butter and e ...

dough, and although her recipe contains leeks, she comments that ''flamiche'' "can be filled with whatever you like".Paterson and Dickson Wright, p. 122

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * {{French cuisine French cuisine Picardy cuisine