Tart, pizza, flatbread.
Whatever you want to call it, tarte flambee is a thin, crispy, and savory treat with all your favorite French fixings. In French, it translates to “pie baked in the flames”. Traditionally, the tarte is baked in a wood-burning oven so if you like a smoky crust, this is the dish for you.
This can be easy to mistake as pizza, but there’s nothing Italian about this dish!
Tarte flambee originates from the Alsace region of France. It is located in the eastern part of the France, bordering Germany and Switzerland. The main ingredients include: bread dough, fromage blanc (a tart spreadable cheese), creme fraiche, onions, and lardons (bacon). . Essentially, it is the equivalent to a flatbread, thin pizza, or French pizza, as you may call it.
The perfect thing about tarte flambee is that it’s such a versatile dish. While the basic ingredients like fromage blanc and onions remain intact on the bread dough, the other toppings can be chosen based on preference. Bacon is commonly used to balance out the creamy tartness from the fromage blanc. For the people who have never heard of fromage blanc, which translates to “white cheese”, in French, some alternatives are cottage cheese, plain greek yogurt, or cream cheese.
On our menu, we topped the tarte with smoked salmon and a leek compote. Whether you make it like the original, or put your own twist on it, you’ll still get the same crispy, delicate texture and flavor!