or is a savoury tart with a baked filling of onions and cream. It is a speciality of the French region of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

, and may be served hot, warm or at room temperature. It is typically served as a starter.

Background and ingredients

Onion pastries are familiar in many French regions and elsewhere, including the Provençal , Flemish and from Britain the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

Butter pie.Cloake, Felicity
"How to cook the perfect onion tart"
''The Guardian'', 15 May 2019

Elizabeth David Elizabeth David ( Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and books about Europea ...

singles out Zewelwaï as "the famous Alsatian speciality ... a truly lovely first course".David, pp. 184–185 The onions are thinly sliced and, in most versions, slowly cooked in fat. Different cooks and writers specify various fats, including butter and oil (David),

lard Lard is a Quasi-solid, semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering (animal products), rendering the adipose tissue, fatty tissue of a domestic pig, pig.

( Jane Grigson), beef dripping ( Felicity Cloake), olive oil ( Gilles Pudlowski), butter ( André Soltner),Soltner, André
"Alsace Onion Tart"
''Epicurious'', 20 August 2004 and goose fat ( Anne Willan).Willan, p. 243 '' Larousse Gastronomique's'' ''Treasury of Country Cooking'' recommends simmering the onions in water;Colmore, p. 324 Gabriel Kreuther adds the onions raw to the filling.Kreuther, Gabriel
"Alsace Onion Tart"
''Taste of France'', 12 June 2023 The mixture to which the onions are added may contain cream,

crème fraîche Crème fraîche (English pronunciation: , , lit. "fresh cream") is a dairy product similar to cream cheese, a soured cream containing 10–45% butterfat, with a pH of approximately 4.5. It is soured with a Microbiological culture, bacterial cult ...

, whole eggs, egg yolks, and bacon. A variant made in the early months of the year, , substitutes spring onions for the usual brown ones. Most cooks blind bake the pastry case before adding the filling, although David does not. The pastry is generally

shortcrust Shortcrust is a type of pastry often used for the base of a tart, quiche, pie, or (in the British English sense) flan. Shortcrust pastry can be used to make both sweet and savory pies such as apple pie, quiche, lemon meringue or chicken pie. A ...

or a variant of it, but ''Larousse'' specifies

puff pastry Puff pastry, also known as , is a light, flaky pastry, its base dough () composed of wheat flour and water. Butter or other solid fat () is then layered into the dough. The dough is repeatedly rolled and folded, rested, re-rolled and folded, encas ...

. The filled pastry case is then baked. The cooked tart may be served hot, warm, or at room temperature.

References

Sources

* * * {{French cuisine French cuisine Onion-based foods