Maine Recipe: Ployes

Ployes

If you’re from Northern Maine, you know what a ploye is. For anyone who isn’t, it’s a French-Acadian food, made of buckwheat flour. They’re often compared to a pancake or a crepe, though they’re a bit different from both of them. For many french families in Maine, they’re a staple. I grew up in Penobscot country, but my dad grew up with Canada just across the river. 

Growing up, my dad used to make ployes all the time. They’re an extremely versatile food. Ployes can (and are) eaten for every meal. They can be paired with anything that you like. In my family, we often had them for breakfast, with butter as the only topping, or along with sausage rolled up in the ploye. We also commonly had them as a side dish for chicken stew, which is a perfect combo on cold Winter nights. Ployes can also be eaten with fruits on top, or as my dad does, with creton, which is a pork spread. (I’ve linked a recipe here, though I didn’t make any in my video). Maple syrup is also a good combo, and if you’re interested in maple syrup, Maine Maple Sunday comes about every spring!

When making ployes, you have two options. One is a ploye mix, in which you only have to add water. The other way is from scratch, which only requires a few more ingredients! I’ll include recipes for both! Regardless of how you make it, they’ll be delicious! 

For more help making the recipe, check out the video I made!

 

Ingredients: (Makes around 10 ployes, depending on the size)

• 1 cups buckwheat flour
• 1/3 cup white flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• ½  teaspoon salt
• 1 cups cold water
• 1/2 cup hot water

With the mix:

• 1 cup ploye mix
• 1 cup cold water
• ½ cup hot water

Click Here for a video on how to make ployes step by step!

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together
2. Add the cold water and mix it until combined
3. Then add the hot water and mix, until the batter has no lumps, and is fairly thin. You want a batter that isn’t quite as thick as pancake batter, but not like water.
4. Once the batter is ready, you can put some on whatever you’re cooking it on. This can be a cast-iron skillet, a pan, or a griddle, whatever works best. I usually put about a ¼ of batter on the pan
5. If you see the ploye ‘bubbling’ and creating little holes, then you’re doing it right! The ploye should be pretty thin, not at all the thickness of a pancake. In my research on different recipes, most say to wait until the top is dry and don’t flip it, but my dad always used to flip it, so there’s no harm in either approach.
6. Keep making the ployes until they are all done, mixing the batter before making a new one. To keep them hot, put them on a plate with a dishtowel over the completed ones.
7. Once you’re all done, top them with whatever you would like, berries, maple syrup, butter, sausage, creton, or something else!

 

-Aubrey Duplissie