A Maine Breakfast

This past weekend while we were in Maine, my father made a breakfast that is native to Northern Maine, called ploye. A ploye is a pancake type mix of buckwheat flour, wheat flour, baking powder and water which is extremely popular in the Madawaska region (New Brunswick), Canada and northern Maine, United States.

Much like grits, or potatoes, the ploye was originally a simple carbohydrate filler food for the local population. It was very cheap, easy to make, and with local toppings, such as maple syrup or cretons, could vary in taste.   Cretons (sometimes gorton or corton, especially among New Englanders of french-canadian origin) is a pork spread containing onions and spices. Due to its fatty texture and taste, it resembles French rillettes. Cretons are usually served on toast as part of a traditional Quebec breakfast.

The recipe varies from family to family and is handed down through the generations.  The batter itself is very thin and runny so as to ensure it does not get too "thick" while cooking. The "ploye" resembles a crêpe in thickness when cooking. In Madawaska county N.B. the ploye have a yellow color due to the type of buckwheat used in the mixture. It sometimes includes a little vinegar to keep the resulting cakes from turning red.

A ploye, contrary to a pancake, is only cooked on one side (but some turn it over after for a few seconds). Once cooked, it is buttered, and covered in maple syrup, brown sugar, molasses or cretons. It is then rolled or folded up and eaten. It is also served with the local traditional chicken stew called fricot, which more closely resembles chicken soup with homemade flour dumplings (also called sliders).  However, when my father made it, he put a fruit mixture on top of it.

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