Tarte Flambée Flammakuecha and Alsatian Pizza

by Suzele
(Alsace)

I know a lot of you have probably heard of Alsatian pizza because of Trader Joes (in the US)...

I can't comment on the Trader Joes version because I've never tried it -when I'm visiting the US, I usually eat all of my favorite American foods that I don't get to eat very often in France : )

The actual name for Alsatian pizza is Tarte Flambée in French.

The German word for Alsatian Pizza is Flammenkuechen, but in Alsatian there is no standard spelling so it varies from Flammakuecha to Flammakueche...

Who knows...you may see a few other spelling variations ...there isn't one Alsatian standard language...every area pronounces it a bit differently and sometimes the vocabulary varies a bit...

But there is one thing that will not change and that it the main ingredients in a Flammakueche!

The basic recipe is a thin crust pizza with heavy cream or fromage blanc, chopped up cubes of bacon and onion...

But when you're in Alsace, you can just stop by the French supermarket and pick up this little pre made mixture (made in Alsace by an Alsatian business)...

You'll find the pre made tarte flambée dough not far away from the Alsatian pizza toppings.

You can have an tarte flambée in 15 minutes at your convenience for a fraction of the price of one in a restaurant!

And you can change it up...the restaurants often do...

Add some fresh mushrooms...or Swiss cheese (called Emmental in France)...or Munster cheese (for a more Alsatian flavor)...

Often the variations involve adding cheese...some of these you may have trouble finding outside of Europe (if you're thinking of recreating them at home.

Some of the other cheeses used are Comté or various types of goat cheese or Gruyere cheese.

Regardless of how you decide to try an Alsatian pizza, it's a definite must do when visiting Alsace!

A gueta,

Suzele