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Welcome spring with crepes

Let's play a word association game. When I say crepe, what's the first word that comes to mind? Maybe it's France. Perhaps it's pancake. But I bet a lot of you are thinking thin.

The crepe's most famous quality is its lack of height - in the popular imagination, crepes are as thin and translucent as tissues. (Why do you think it's called crepe paper?) But their reputation does a disservice to home cooks who want to bring a little Francophilia into their lives.

Give up on thinness and worry more about whether it will have enough body to hold your filling of choice.

As for the crepes that survive intact, you may be tempted to fill them with Nutella, or ice cream, or strawberry jam, or all of the above. Please resist this temptation. The best French crepes are the savory ones, which remain as underappreciated on these shores. Known as galettes, these savory crepes are made from a buckwheat flour batter, which offers a pleasantly nutty flavor. I offer you galettes stuffed with Gruyere, peas, leeks and mint. The filling combination isn't traditional, but it is good, and it's just the thing to welcome spring.

Buckwheat Crepes with Peas, Leeks and Gruyere

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