| Tarte à l'oignon | |
| Alternate Name: | Zewelwaï |
| Country: | France |
| Course: | Starter |
| Served: | Hot, warm or cold |
| Main Ingredient: | Onions, shortcrust pastry |
French: Tarte à l'oignon or French: Zewelwaï is a savoury tart with a baked filling of onions and cream. It is a speciality of the French region of Alsace, and may be served hot, warm or at room temperature. It is typically served as a starter.
Onion pastries are familiar in many French regions and elsewhere, including the Provençal French: [[pissaladière]], Flemish French: [[flamiche]] and from Britain the Lancashire Butter pie.[1] Elizabeth David singles out Zewelwaï as "the famous Alsatian speciality ... a truly lovely first course".[2]
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),[2] lard (Jane Grigson),[1] beef dripping (Felicity Cloake), olive oil (Gilles Pudlowski),[1] butter (André Soltner),[3] and goose fat (Anne Willan).[4] Larousse Gastronomique's Treasury of Country Cooking recommends simmering the onions in water;[5] Gabriel Kreuther adds the onions raw to the filling.[6]
The mixture to which the onions are added may contain cream, crème fraîche, whole eggs, egg yolks, and bacon.[1] A variant made in the early months of the year, French: Zewelwaï printanière, substitutes spring onions for the usual brown ones.[4] Most cooks blind bake the pastry case before adding the filling,[1] [4] although David does not.[2] The pastry is generally shortcrust or a variant of it,[1] but Larousse specifies puff pastry.[5] The filled pastry case is then baked.[1]
The cooked tart may be served hot,[2] [5] warm,[1] [3] [6] or at room temperature.[3] [6]
. Elizabeth David . French Provincial Cooking . 2008 . 1960 . London . Folio Society . 809349711.
. Anne Willan . French Regional Cooking . 1981 . London . Hutchinson . 978-0-09-146211-6 .