Tarte Flambée at Pierrot Gourmet

Since we’re talking about love today, I should make a confession: I’ve always been in love with Alsatian food and wine. This tiny sliver of a region within France straddles Germany, so the culture encourages world-class wine production, consumption and hearty cooking influenced by Strasbourg, Lorraine and Germany. I’ve always been a fan of their rieslings and gewurtztraminers, but more recently, I’ve been seeing their beloved tarte flambées in a few places, most notably, inside Pierrot Gourmet, the ground level restaurant and cafe inside of The Peninsula Hotel in Chicago.

In Alsace, they begin with a super-thin dough, which is given a schmear of fromage blanc or crème fraîche as a base. The topping is as simple as a few scattered, thinly-sliced onions and a couple handfuls of lardons, or tiny cubes of rendered bacon. The name tarte flambée is translated, literally, as “pie baked in flames.” At Pierrot, they don’t have a wood burning oven, but they still bake them until slightly blistered; there’s also more than just one flavor – including one with pesto and shrimp – but the Alsatian version is still the best one.