With the change of season we begin to anticipate re-experiencing the flavors of autumn. It can be a dilemma to have to choose between the last of the peaches (in a season that yielded perfect stone fruit) and the first of the apples. When you taste those new foods again for the first time of the season, you also rediscover the memories associated with them. My first taste of pumpkin this season was not as a soup, instead it came in the form of matafan, a French pancake that is more a cousin to an American pancake than a crepe. One important difference however is that the French version is savory.
With the first aromatic bite, I recalled Josephine Araldo saying, “the cooking of the countryside is always the best.” There is something incomparable about the flavors of foods prepared closest to the source. Country people have a resourcefulness shaped by the fact that can’t rely on having everything all the time in the way the cooking of city food can. We all have memories from childhood about the first real taste of something from the source, a local wild berry; milk or cream from a cow; an apple from the tree you lean against as you bite into it; a local potato; an herb from the garden; or a perfect tomato made by the collaboration between the month of August and God. Those foods impress us because they taste like where they are from. However, we are fortunate enough in Oregon to have that experience of tasting food at the source in spades.
I was taught to make these little wonders by Madeleine Kamman where they originate in the French Alps. Over the years I have added my own touches. I always enjoy watching people’s response to them. They take one when offered, look at it and wonder. Since we don’t usually eat pancakes with our fingers, it doesn’t look like anything they’ve ever eaten (perhaps a blini). A defining moment is created. There are those who taste first, and try to discover what they are eating; others who need to know the name of the thing before it crosses their lips. To the “What is this?” group I always say, “Taste; then see if you can tell me. “
The small sugar pumpkins that weigh a couple of pounds yield a perfect flavor. A batch of pumpkin matafan calls for about a cup of pureed vegetable, about one quarter of the pumpkin. Yesterday at the Hillsdale market, I couldn’t resist a small blue Japanese pumpkin. Whichever one you choose, simply roast it in the oven at moderate temperature until it collapses. When it’s cool, quarter it, remove the seeds and outer skin. (Divide the remaining quarters and store them for later use. You’ll probably revisit the taste of these matafan.) I puree the amount of pumpkin I need with the milk that’s called for in the recipe. And finally when I’m ready to assemble the dish, I simply put flour in a work bowl, add salt, then egg yolks. I warm the pumpkin liquid, and stir it into the flour/egg base to bring the batter together. The method doesn’t call for anything exotic.
The trick of adding warm milk is different. Usually we make pancakes with cold milk, and as with anything calling for the addition of cold milk to flour, it requires resting time so that the flour can absorb the cold liquid. The matafan, made with warmed milk, absorbs the flour at once. A second technique calls for separating the eggs, incorporating the yolks into the base, then folding in whipped whites at the end. The addition of egg whites negates the need for chemical leavening such as baking powder. The air mass trapped in the whipped whites lifts the little pancake toward the heavenly bodies.
When I worked with Vitaly Paley on his about-to-be-released PALEY’S PLACE COOKBOOK, he once remarked that often the difference between a dish that is okay and one that is really good, is the addition of salt. So, don’t be stingy, don’t be afraid, and be judicious – add and taste. The presence of the correct amount of salt will bring the pumpkin to the fore in a way that makes its flavor feel like a discovery.
There would be nothing to prevent you from making these pancakes speak American English by topping them with maple syrup. Where they originate, they are served with a slice of country ham, and topped with béchamel, perfumed with a bit of nutmeg, and the addition of Gruyere, a cheese from the same area.
I plan to serve them as an appetizer next Friday night at the Studio. There are a few seats left, and if you’d like, I’ll demonstrate their preparation . We’re serving four courses for $38, discuss how they pair with wine. The one seating is at 6.30. Email to reserve a place. There will be a series of Friday dinners at the studio throughout October and November.
MATAFAN AU COURGE
2/3 cup roasted pumpkin, pureed
2/3 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
6 egg yolks (reserve whites)
4 egg whites, whipped to soft peak
Unsalted butter
Garnish:
A slice of ham per pancake
1-1/2 cups béchamel (see below)
In a food processor, puree the pumpkin, adding the cold milk, until homogenous. Remove the mixture to a small saucepan, and warm gently.
Put the flour in a work bowl, and make a well. Add the salt, then the yolks. Mix the yolks to incorporate, adding the warmed milk until the batter is homogenous. Fold in half the beaten whites, then repeat folding in the remaining whites.
Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a 10-inch skillet. I pour the batter into a metal ring used for preparing poached eggs. If you don’t have one, it doesn’t matter. The ring allows the batter to take on a perfect roundness, and allows the cake to climb slightly.
Pour half a ladle of batter (about 2 to 3 ounces) per pancake. Let them hat through, forming bubbles on top, and coloring golden on the bottom, before turning them to cook on the second side. Remove to a plate and keep warm. Wipe the pan with a paper towel, renew the butter and prepare the remaining matefin until the batter is used up.
To prepare Bechamel
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3-1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Pinch of salt
Nutmeg
¼ to ½ cup grated Gruyere, Beaufort, or Emmenthal
Melt the butter in a small saucepan without allowing it to get too hot. Add the flour, stir to make a roux (paste). Season with salt, then add 1-1/2 cups warm whole milk, or half and half. Let the sauce cook slowly for 5 minutes until it has the consistency of heavy cream. Flavor it with nutmeg, and add cheese until it thickens to a consistency that appeals to you.
Top each matafan with a slice of some type of good domestic ham available at markets with specialty meat counters, or a ham like prosciutto cotto. Black Forest or boiled ham also work.
Finish with a spoonful of the cheese sauce. Pour a wine from the Savoie, an Apremont, Abymes, or Altesse. All are generally available through a variety of wine vendors in Portland. Otherwise try Cameron’s Giovanni.
