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I’m perplexed, and I know it isn’t just me who feels this way. The weather in Maine has been a bit inconsistent lately. April was rainy and cold. May was cold, wet and windy. June is supposed to be the meteorological beginning of summer, but our heat pump remained on. Puzzled by the weather, I read about the average highs for this time of year. We have been running well below normal. Hopefully July is when Maine will get its groove on.
When I got the recipe for my July column, I was again baffled. I didn’t know what the food was or how it was made. When I started to research it, I couldn’t get enough of the history behind this delightful flatbread.
Tina Deschaine is the first smiling face you see when you enter the Harpswell Town Office. She handles everything tossed her way and runs that front office like a well-oiled machine. She is an absolute delight. Tina moved to Harpswell in 2014.
When Tina gave me a recipe for ployes, it made sense because she is originally from Madawaska and her ancestry is French. Ployes came to the Madawaska territory around 1785, before Maine was a state. Acadian culture runs deep in the area, and ployes are a way of life. Many locals grew up eating ployes with every meal, and they remain a staple to this day.
Buckwheat gives ployes their distinct flavor. However, buckwheat isn’t wheat at all. It comes from a plant similar to wild rhubarb that is cultivated for its grain-like seeds. Ployes are 100% vegan-friendly.
I recently visited a good friend who is originally from St. Agatha, in Aroostook County. I started talking about my recipe for this month. She immediately pulled out her cast-iron skillet and proceeded to make ployes.
It was my first time tasting one, and with a bit of butter, it was delicious. My friend proceeded to tell me that her mother made them for every meal and they were most delicious with cretons, which is a pate made from ground pork and spices. Sometimes they were eaten with butter and molasses as a dessert.
Recipes for ployes have remained consistent throughout the years. If you don’t have a family recipe that was handed down, you can buy a mix marketed by Bouchard Farms, of Fort Kent, at Hannaford. However, this recipe isn’t hard to prepare.
Ployes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup buckwheat flour
- 1/3 cup white flour
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cold water
- 1/2 cup hot water
Directions:
Mix flours, baking powder and salt with cold water until well combined. Add hot water and mix. Let sit for a minute or two. You want a thin batter, not like pancake batter.
Heat a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet or griddle. When really hot, pour some batter and spread in a circle. When holes (eyes) start to appear, you are doing it right.
When the holes are all over the top, the batter is no longer liquid and the edges start to curl slightly, remove the ploye. Do not flip. If they stick, your pan is not hot enough.
Continue to make them until you get the quantity you want, then top them with whatever you like: butter, berries, maple syrup, sausage, eggs, cretons — whatever. Serve them rolled up with soup, stew or any meal you happen to prepare. Enjoy!
Harpswell Aging at Home always needs cooks for its Meals in a Pinch program, which provides nutritious meals to older adults in need of emergency assistance. For more information, contact Julie Moulton at 207-330-5416 or juliemoulton28@gmail.com.
