A flan, in British cuisine, is an
egg-based dish with an open, rimmed
pastry
Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" sugges ...
or
sponge
Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate throug ...
base containing a sweet or
savoury filling. Examples are
bacon and egg flan and
custard tart
Custard tarts or flans pâtissier are a baked pastry consisting of an outer pastry crust filled with egg custard.
History
The development of custard is so intimately connected with the custard tart or pie that the word itself comes from Anglo- ...
.
History
Flan is known in
Roman cuisine. It was often a savory dish, as in "
eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
flan"; sweet flans were also enjoyed.
In the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, both sweet and savory flans (
almonds,
cinnamon and
sugar;
cheese,
curd
Curd is obtained by coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet or any edible acidic substance such as l ...
,
spinach,
fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...
) were very popular in Europe, especially during
Lent
Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...
, when meat was forbidden.
Etymology
The English word "flan", and the earlier forms "flaune" and "flawn", come from the
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...
''flaon'' (modern French ''flan''), in turn from the early
Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functione ...
''fladō'' (
accusative ''fladōnem''), of
Germanic origin, from an
Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
root meaning "flat" or "broad".
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
, 2nd Edition (1989); Petit Robert
''Le Petit Robert de la Langue Française'' (), known as just ''Petit Robert'', is a popular single-volume French dictionary first published by Paul Robert in 1967. It is an abridgement of his eight-volume ''Dictionnaire alphabétique et analogi ...
1973.
See also
*
Flan cake
Flan cake, also known as leche flan cake or crème caramel cake, is a Filipino chiffon or sponge cake ('' mamón'') baked with a layer of leche flan (crème caramel) on top and drizzled with caramel syrup. It is sometimes known as "custard cak ...
*
Flaó
Flaó (plural flaons, ) is a cheesecake or tart found in Spanish cuisine popular from Catalan speaking areas. It is claimed by Majorca, Ibiza and Formentera, with some controversy. Traditionally flaons were part of Easter family celebrations in ...
*
List of pies, tarts and flans
This is a list of pies, tarts and flans. A pie is a baked or fried dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweetness, sweet or Umami, savory ingredients. A tart is a baked dish con ...
*
Quiche
References
{{commonscat, Flans (pie)
British desserts
Pies