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 I am very much intrigued by the unique food of Alsace, the tiny region
that shares a border and many culinary similarities with Germany. My
love for Alsatian food stems from my visit a few years ago to The Modern,
which is run by Alsatian chef Gabriel Kruether. There I enjoyed many
traditional Alsation dishes, among them a tarte flambée, a simple
pizza-like tart. It is also known as flammekueche in Alsatian or flammkuchen
in German. It's fundamentally a very simple combination of smoky bacon,
sautéed onions, and rich cream on a crispy bread that forms a most
amazing salivatingly savory meal.
The flavors I experienced that
day still linger in my memory. I knew then that I would try and
re-create this Alsatian tart at home. But it wasn't until last week
that the thought crossed my mind once I discovered my local supermarket
sold crème fraîche, the French sour cream, which is a necessary
ingredient for this recipe. To recreate the flavor profiles of the tart
I enjoyed at the restaurant, I also searched for applewood-smoked
bacon, which I was also luckily able to procure. With all the
ingredients in hand, I was now absolutely ready to bake and devour a
traditional tarte flambée.
I
find the process of making my own pizza dough at home, or in this case
a simple bread dough, very rewarding. Pizza making is not limited to
the Italians, the French love to use leftover dough to make such easy
meals as this tart. The recipe for the dough can make two large
rectangular tarts or four mini round pizzas. It's also great for other
recipes, such as focaccia. Be sure to use a pizza stone for this
recipe, as high heat is necessary for achieving a crisp crust. Though a
store-bought pizza dough would work for this recipe, I highly recommend
making the dough at home.
Tarte Flambée
Note: If you cannot find crème fraîche, sour cream can be substituted.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablepsoon butter
1 large sweet onion, halved and sliced lengthwise
4 ounces thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon (about 4 slices), diced
8 ounces crème fraîche (1 cup)
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 portion pizza bread, recipe follows
Preheat oven with pizza stone to 450 degrees F.
Warm
oil and butter in a large sauté pan set over medium heat. Add onion,
and sauté until soft and translucent, about 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer
onion to a bowl. Add bacon to same pan and cook until crisp and most of
the fat has rendered, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove
bacon to a second bowl.
To onion, add crème fraîche; mix until combined. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Pull
dough into a small rectangle. Transfer to an 12-by-18-inch rimmed
baking sheet. Work edges of dough with fingers, pressing and stretching
dough into corners and sides of pan, making sure dough is even 1/4-inch
thickness throughout.
Spread dough with onion and crème fraîche
mixture almost to edges. Top with crisped bacon. Bake until edges are
golden brown and mixture is bubbling, about 15 minutes. Yield: 4 to 6
servings.
Pizza Bread
Recipe for "fougasse" adapted from Richard Bertinet's Dough: Simple Contemporary Breads.
18 ounces bread flour (4 cups)
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 ounce dry yeast (2 1/4-ounce packets or 1-1/2 tablespoons)
1-1/2 cups warm water
In
a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Proof yeast in warm water. Once
yeast foams, pour liquid into dry ingredients. Using a scarper,
incorporate liquid into flour until completely absorbed and a sticky
dough forms.
Scrape dough out onto work surface. Knead dough
vigorously for 10 minutes: picking it up, slapping it against the work
surface, and folding it over itself. After 10 minutes, dough should
form a mass and stick less to the work surface. Form dough into a ball
and dust all over with flour. Transfer to large bowl and cover with
plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled for 1 hour.
Scrape dough
out of bowl without deflating and turn out onto a well-floured work
surface. Dust dough with flour. Let rest for 5 minutes. Then divide
into 2 to 4 portions. Use for tarte flambée, fougasse, pizza, focaccia,
etc.
Joseph Erdos is a New York–based writer and editor, but
above all a gastronomer and oenophile. He shares his passion for food
on his blog, Gastronomer's Guide , which features unique recipes and restaurant reviews among many other musings on the all-encompassing topic of food.
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