id crepes ever scare you? They used to scare me to death. They are so other-worldly, so impossible to imagine how they got that way.
Remember those restaurants -- Le Creperie and the Magic Pan? There used to be chain restaurants that served crepes. The whole menu was full of them.
Plates of crepes would arrive at the table, thin and foreign, filled with strange things: bitter cheeses, vinegared white asparagus with cherry tomatoes, super-sweet Suzette. They were flambeaued with funny-tasting wines or obscure sherries that made your lips pucker slightly and your taste buds wonder what is that flavor? (and why didn't they leave it out?)
I remember people with French accents talking about special crepe pans which look like diminutive upside down black skillets. How on earth does a person use one of those? The whole thing was pretty scary.
But that was a long time ago. My culinary consciousness is much more mature now. I've learned how to make extraordinary things: candied fruit rolls, duchess potatoes, nut souffle, chicken supreme, daiquiris. I've been braving up.
Yet in Italy, without provocation I was suddenly faced with a strange but familiar food. They call them crespelle. They're thin, flat, made from a batter, and look a lot like a crepe. In fact, they are crepes! Only instead of calling on Suzette, they call on canneloni and lasagna! Fantastic!
