A dense, custardy flan of eggs, milk and flour, baked firm, usually with prunes soaked in the batter.
What makes it far breton
A thick batter of eggs, milk, flour and sugar, baked firm — sliceable, not wobbly.
Salted butter in the dish, browning the edges.
Prunes, or nothing at all.
Where it comes from
Far — farz in Breton — is thought to come from the Latin for grain, and farz was once a porridge or pudding of buckwheat or wheat, sometimes savoury, boiled in a cloth bag alongside meat. The baked, sweet farz fourn is the one that travelled.
Prunes came later, probably with sailors and trade; many Breton cooks still make it plain, or with raisins.
How it varies
Far nature
Plain, without fruit — how many Bretons prefer it.
Farz buan
The old boiled far, cooked in a bag in the pot with the meat.