French Potato Pancake — “Crique” Recipe

Having a French boyfriend certainly does has it’s perks -aka- I have full access to secret French family recipes (well, there not really that secret), which is why I am making a series of “The Best of Ardèche, France:…” recipes.  And first recette on the list is…..Crique!

When I lived in France, Paul and I would often return to his parent’s home in the countryside of Ardèche; a department located in the Southeastern (some say South-central) part of France, as can be seen highlighted in red on this handy dandy map.

There in his small town in Ardèche, his parent’s would cook up traditional, authentic French food so I could discover the food culture within a traditional French family setting.  One of the recipes we made that would forever stick in my brain is “crique”, which is the simplest yet most delicious meal to make (especially when served with une bonne salade verte).

La recette crique ardechoise is basically a grated potato pancake mixed with eggs, oil, salt & pepper. But you can add other ingredients such as onions, garlic, cheese, etc., if you want to diversify your crique.

Crique Recipe

*Recipe from the family Faure. 🙂

♦ Preparation time: 15 minutes  |  Cooking time: 10-15 minutes

⇒ The amount of potatoes you need depends on how many people you want to feed (4-5 people = 4-5 large potatoes)

• Peel raw potatoes and rinse them with water
• Grate* them (smaller the better) into a large bowl

*We always grate the potatoes manually; it takes some elbow grease but the end result is worth the effort!

⇒ Add an [almost] equivalent amount of eggs (3-4 eggs for 4-5 people)

• Add eggs into the potato mixture and beat/stir well

⇒ Salt & pepper to taste

• You can add additional salt once the crique has been cooked (it’s my guilty little pleasure).

Fire up the stove

⇒ Turn the stove on medium-high to high heat.

⇒ Add oil (olive or sunflower) and let it get hot

⇒ Once oil is hot, add your first crique

⇒ Evenly cover the pan’s surface with 1/2 inch thick of crique mixture

⇒ Let cook for 10-15 minutes, flipping* when one side is golden brown

*Flipping a large, round potato “pancake” can be quite tricky.  Paul and his family always use the help of a large plate or a pan’s lid by covering the crique with the plate or lid and then flipping the pan upside down.  Once flipped, slide the crique back into the pan to finish cooking.

Your crique should be evenly golden/brown all over – crispy on the outside, soft in the center is my personal favorite 🙂 Cut the crique into 4 or 5 sections and serve alongside a crispy, green salad (see below for an awesome homemade dressing – the French way!)

Homemade salad dressing

Follow these short steps for a super easy and simple way to make a delicious homemade salad dressing and dine as the French do.

• Grab your salad and wash it thoroughly by rinsing with clean water or if it’s salad fresh from your garden, soak in a bowl of water and vinegar
• Grab a small/regular-sized bowl for the dressing

In this order you:

• Add 1 tbl spoon of dijon mustard to the bowl
• Stir in 1 tbl spoon of red vinegar (balsamic, if you prefer)
• Mix the above two ingredients together very well
• Quickly stir in 1 tbl spoon of oil (again, olive or sunflower is fine) until the mixture comes together smoothly
• Continue to add oil (stirring quickly) in small increments to make the volume of the salad dressing increase
• Taste as you go, adjust ingredient amounts as preferred
• Salt and pepper for finishing touch

Congratulations! You have just learned the recipe for une crique ardechoise and a simple n’ yummy salad dressing!