The galette de sarrasin is the savoury Breton pancake: buckwheat flour, water and salt, spread thin on a cast-iron billig and folded around egg, ham and cheese for the classic complète.

Buckwheat reached Brittany in the late Middle Ages and thrived on the region's acid, poor soils where wheat struggled. Because it needs no leavening and no oven, the batter suited a hearth and a flat stone, and it became the everyday bread of the Breton countryside long before it became restaurant food. The split between the savoury buckwheat galette and the sweet wheat-flour crêpe is not universal across Brittany, but it is the convention that holds in Rennes. The complète, with egg, ham and grated cheese, is the reference order against which every crêperie in the city is measured, and the folded four-corner shape that leaves the yolk visible is the standard presentation.

Where to eat Galette de sarrasin in Rennes

5 editor picks for Galette de sarrasin in Rennes, ranked by editorial score. All Rennes signature dishes · Galette de sarrasin across every city.

  • Crêperie La Saint-Georges

    Order One of the 35 galettes named for a famous Georges; pick your Georges

    Crêperie La Saint-Georges on Rue du Chapitre in Rennes names its 35 galettes after famous Georges, a design-led room in the half-timbered old town.

    DetailsBookDirections

  • Bretone

    Order The grilled Guémené andouille galette with caramelised onions

    Bretone serves buckwheat galettes in the mosaic-tiled former home of the Odorico family in Rennes, a Fooding-listed crêperie with a pastel rooftop patio.

    DetailsDirections

  • Crêperie Sarrasin

    Order A savoury galette in 100 percent IGP Breton buckwheat, naturally gluten free

    Crêperie Sarrasin faces the Halles Centrales in Rennes with galettes rolled from 100 percent IGP Breton buckwheat and largely organic French ingredients.

    DetailsBookDirections

  • Crêperie du Pont-Levis

    Order A 100 percent Breton IGP buckwheat galette facing the medieval gates

    Crêperie du Pont-Levis faces the 15th-century Portes Mordelaises in Rennes, IGP Breton buckwheat galettes at the oldest crêperie address in the city.

    DetailsDirections

  • Crêperie Ouzh Taol

    Order The burger-galette, the house's cross of two comfort foods

    Ouzh Taol, Breton for at the table, folds burger-galettes and classic buckwheat rounds in a small room on Rue Saint-Melaine in Rennes, best booked ahead.

    DetailsDirections

Make it at home

Serves 43 hrIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 330g buckwheat flour
  • 750ml cold water
  • 10g fine sea salt
  • 1 egg (optional, for a softer galette)
  • Salted butter for the pan
  • To fill: 4 eggs, 4 slices cooked ham, 150g grated Emmental

Method

  1. Whisk the buckwheat flour and salt with about half the water until you have a smooth, thick paste with no lumps. Beat it hard for two minutes to develop the batter.
  2. Slacken with the remaining water, and the egg if using, until the batter is the consistency of single cream. Cover and rest in the fridge for at least two hours, ideally overnight.
  3. Heat a flat cast-iron pan or crêpe pan until a drop of water skitters across it. Wipe with salted butter.
  4. Ladle a thin layer of batter and spread it immediately with a rake or the back of the ladle in one spiral motion. Cook two minutes until the underside is lacy and set.
  5. Flip, crack an egg into the centre, scatter the ham and cheese around it and cook a further two minutes until the white is set and the cheese has melted.
  6. Fold the four sides in to leave the yolk exposed, slide onto a warm plate and serve at once with a bowl of cider.

Editor tip. The rest is not optional: unrested buckwheat batter tears on the pan. If the galette sticks, the pan is not hot enough rather than too hot.

Common allergens: Gluten, Eggs, Dairy.