Dishes · A classic of Alsatian · The Kochersberg, west of Strasbourg

Tarte flambée

Also Flammekueche, Flammkuchen, Flammekuche

Bread dough rolled paper-thin, spread with fromage blanc and cream, scattered with onion and bacon, and baked in seconds in a blazing oven.

What makes it tarte flambée

  • Dough rolled as thin as it will go.
  • Fromage blanc and crème fraîche — not tomato, not grated cheese.
  • Raw onion and lardons, baked very hot and fast.

Where it comes from

The story most often told is that it began on bread-baking day: a scrap of dough was put in the wood oven to test its heat before the loaves went in, with whatever was to hand spread on top. It's usually placed in the Kochersberg and the farm country of northern Alsace.

It spread to Strasbourg's restaurants in the twentieth century and now it's everywhere, often eaten in rounds, one after another, as a sociable meal.

How it varies

Gratinée
With grated Emmental on top.
Au Munster
With slices of Munster cheese, sometimes cumin.
Sweet
Apples, sugar and cinnamon, flambéed with Calvados or kirsch.

Be the first here

Start your own tarte flambée
No one here has made tarte flambée yet. Start it as v1, and every version after is an experiment the next cook can learn from.

Near it

ProvençalPissaladièreA thick bread dough spread with onions cooked slowly to a sweet mass, criss-crossed with anchovies and dotted with black olives.No one here has made it yetAlsatianBretzelA knotted bread dipped in a lye bath before baking, so it comes out deep brown and shiny, scattered with coarse salt.No one here has made it yetLyonnaisCervelle de canutFresh white cheese beaten with shallots, garlic, chives and parsley, a little oil and vinegar, eaten on bread.No one here has made it yet