Blaunche Escrepes

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Blaunche Escrepes means literally "white pancakes" (think "blanches crepes" if you have any French.)

They were made in England in the 1200s from white wheat flour.

They were often used to accompany "Poume d'oranges" (pork meatballs.)

Cooking Tips
A batter is made of the flour and beaten, fluffy egg white, with some white wine to thin it to a pourable consistency.

Small amounts of the batter are poured out at a time into a pan with hot fat in it, and fried, turning to cook both sides. The original recipe presumed that you knew to turn the pancakes, and so gave no directions with regard to that. Presumably while cooking, you made sure to brown them as little as possible (owing to their name.)

The original recipe directed you to find or make a bowl with the hole in the bottom. You would put the readied batter in that, and use it as a funnel to flow the batter out through, blocking the hole in the bottom with your fingers to control the flow onto the cooking surface.

When cooked, you sprinkled the pancakes with sugar.

Literature & Lore
This is an Anglo-Norman recipe, recorded in the late 1200s in French:

"Blaunche escrepes. E une autre viaunde, ke ad a noun blaunche escrepes. Pernez fleur demeyne e blaunc de l'oef, e festes bature, ne mye trop espesse, e metez du [vin]; pus pernez une esquele e festes un pertuz parmy; e puys pernez bure, ou oile, ou gresse; e puys metez vos quartres deis dedenez la bature pur hastir; e puys pernez cel bature e metez de dunz une esquele, e festes culer parmy cel pertuz dedenz la gresse; e puys festes une escrepe, e puys une autre, e metez vostre dei denz le pertuz de l'esquele; e puys jettez sucre desus les crespes, e dressez celes escrespes od les poumes de oranges."

Acknowlegements


Hieatt, Constance B. and Robin F. Jones, eds. "Two Anglo-Norman Culinary Collections Edited from British Library Manuscripts Additional 32085 and Royal 12.C.xii." Speculum vol. 61, issue 4 (Oct. 1986): 859-882.

Also called:
Blaunche Escrepes (French) Top...