Berrichon Truffiat
A thick galette of grated potatoes bound with egg and cream, sometimes enclosed in a pastry crust, baked in the oven until golden and crisp on the outside, soft and melting within. The hearty dish of Berry families, filling without being expensive.
A thick galette of grated potatoes bound with egg and cream, sometimes enclosed in a pastry crust, baked in the oven until golden and crisp on the outside, soft and melting within. The hearty dish of Berry families, filling without being expensive.
Do not look for the learned sauces of Paris at my home: at Nohant, we love the earth and what it gives without artifice. This truffiat, my tenant farmers bake it in the village oven, in a pastry crust glazed with egg yolk, and I assure you it is worth any feast. The secret, you see, is to press the grated potatoes well between your hands to squeeze out the water, otherwise the galette weeps and does not hold together. We eat it warm, chatting, and that is all the happiness of winter evenings by the fireside.
- •Potatoes from the Berry — a good pile (base of the galette)
- •Eggs from the barnyard — a few (binder)
- •Fresh farm cream — a ladleful (softness)
- •Butter — a knob (cooking and flavor)
- •Salt, pepper — to taste (seasoning)
- •Shortcrust pastry (optional) — enough to line the dish (tourte crust)
Berrichon Truffiat
A thick galette of grated potatoes bound with egg and cream, sometimes enclosed in a pastry crust, baked in the oven until golden and crisp on the outside, soft and melting within. The hearty dish of Berry families, filling without being expensive.
Why this dish? The truffiat, a potato galette or tourte, is a classic of the Berry region, served on all the farms around Nohant. Sand, who loved the simple cuisine of her region and willingly shared the table of her tenant farmers, had made it a familiar dish on her estate.
Do not look for the learned sauces of Paris at my home: at Nohant, we love the earth and what it gives without artifice. This truffiat, my tenant farmers bake it in the village oven, in a pastry crust glazed with egg yolk, and I assure you it is worth any feast. The secret, you see, is to press the grated potatoes well between your hands to squeeze out the water, otherwise the galette weeps and does not hold together. We eat it warm, chatting, and that is all the happiness of winter evenings by the fireside.
Ingredients (period version)
- Potatoes from the Berry — a good pile (base of the galette)
- Eggs from the barnyard — a few (binder)
- Fresh farm cream — a ladleful (softness)
- Butter — a knob (cooking and flavor)
- Salt, pepper — to taste (seasoning)
- Shortcrust pastry (optional) — enough to line the dish (tourte crust)
Ingredients
- Floury potatoes — 1 kg (base of the galette)
- Eggs — 3 (binder)
- Thick crème fraîche — 150 g (softness)
- Butter — 40 g (cooking and flavor)
- Shortcrust pastry — 1 roll (optional) (tourte crust)
- Salt, pepper, nutmeg — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Coarsely grate the peeled potatoes, salt them, then press firmly in a cloth to extract as much water as possible.
- Mix the squeezed potatoes with beaten eggs, cream, salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg.
- Butter a dish (or line it with shortcrust pastry for a tourte version) and pour in the mixture to a thickness of 3-4 cm.
- Dot with knobs of butter and bake at 200°C for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a beautiful golden crust forms.
- Let cool for a few minutes and serve in generous slices, with a green salad from the garden.
How it was made : In the Berrichon farms of the 19th century, the truffiat was baked in the communal bread oven after the batch of bread, using the residual heat. The potato, long scorned, had become a staple of the rural areas of central France, economical and nourishing.
The contemporary twist : Serve it in individual portions in small ramekins, the top gratinéed with a *crottin de Chavignol* goat cheese to seal the potato-goat cheese marriage dear to the Berry.
George Sand · Charactorium