Maranne Hazell-Berlinghof was (and I am sure still is!) a fine chef, and an invitation to dine at her table was a treat. In a very tiny kitchen Maranne would effortlessly produce three outstanding courses, all of which were delicious, and I learned a lot from her over the years. I kind of HAD to learn; each time we left Bob and Maranne’s after yet another wonderful meal Mac would say, “how come you can’t cook like Maranne?”
I wasn’t a fancy cook, had never cooked at all until we opened the Pizzeria in 1979. I learned by trial and error and by emulating others, and with a lot of help from The Joy of Cooking I was making progress. I doubted I would ever be able to master really delicate dishes, but then again I was operating a Pizzeria not a gourmet restaurant! A recipe wasn’t something to be followed – many ingredients weren’t available in the local shops, but the cook book DID give me ideas and guidelines.
One day I decided to tackle crepes. Mac had exclaimed enthusiastically over Maranne’s, and of course had asked me his usual “how come you can’t cook like Maranne?”. How hard could crepes be? I took my well-thumbed The Joy of Cooking from the shelf and turned to the crepe section. Oh my, there were a lot of different kinds, where to begin? There were recipes for French Pancakes, Stuffed Crepes, Gateau crepes, Fruit Pancakes, Crepes Suzette, German Pancakes, Austrian Pancakes, Russian Pancakes and more. I decided that the Stuffed Crepes were what I wanted to make, and assembled the simple ingredients for the batter.
I have always had a problem with recipes that tell you to use just a few quick stokes after adding the liquid to the flour mixture and not to worry about the lumps. Of COURSE I worried about the lumps, I didn’t have it in me NOT to worry about the lumps, and the crepe batter was in the “don’t worry about the lumps” category. The recipe promised that the lumps would take of themselves and I doubted that very much. I made my first batter, whisking those pesky lumps into oblivion, then rested it in the fridge for a few hours.
My first crepes were like rubber, and of course Mac was standing over me saying, “they don’t look like Maranne’s”. I scrapped that batch and tried a few more times until I finally got it right. The lumps DID take care of themselves and I started turning out light and delicious crepes. Making the pancakes was the hard part, the fillings were easy and fun, and I decided to throw a pot-luck crepe party. The message was spread to come to the party with either a filling or topping for crepes, everyone would be assembling their own dinners to suit their tastes.
That was a fun party! Our guests arrived with completely different and highly inventive crepe fillings, and they were delicious. Some were made with seafood and chicken, others with fruit, and there were a few vegetarian options as well. I spent most of the evening making the pancakes; as soon as one plate was sent out to the table I started another, and the crepes were thoroughly enjoyed by all.
That evening as we were getting into bed Mac said, “that crepe party was a good idea” and I agreed. I was pleased that the pancakes had been so good, they had been light and flavorful, and I felt ready to offer crepes as a lunch special at the Pizzeria. Just before Mac fell asleep he said, “the crepes were pretty good but not as good as Maranne’s”.
Almost forty years later I came across an on-line Martha Stewart recipe for crepes, and discovered that you can easily make the batter in a blender! I made the batter and it was pretty good, not as good as Maranne’s but pretty damned good. Thank-you Martha Stewart!