Irresistible crepes are mouthwatering meal
By John Gregory
Crepes are known in the United Stated mostly as a breakfast dish or possibly a dessert with fruit, powdered sugar and whipped cream. But Koffi Tsoto is showing hungry customers at the Scripps Ranch Farmer’s Market that crepes are so much more – they can be an entire meal for breakfast lunch or dinner. His business is called Crepelicious San Diego.
Tsoto opens his booth at the Farmer’s Market each week and offers both sweet and savory crepes. There are a variety of options, and each crepe is made fresh on the spot.
The savory crepe can be ordered with chicken, bacon, ham, turkey, cheese, avocado, tomato, spinach mushrooms or onions.
The sweet version can be ordered with Nutella chocolate, peanut butter, honey, strawberries, banana, blueberries or whipped cream. Some customers just want strawberries and banana; and some like only the crepe itself with some sugar and lemon. But customers can order a crepe with all the options if they want.
Crepes are made with eggs, flour, milk and butter. These ingredients keep them thin and light, Tsoto explained. He puts in the added food options and rolls them up, leaving a small opening at each end so “they can breathe,”
he said.
Not only are crepes more than a novelty food item, there is a science to making them correctly. Tsoto’s background makes this all the more fascinating, especially for all the foodies out there.
“When I was young, I lived with my mom and my sisters. Everybody knew how to cook. So, I’m the big brother … I always act like the head of the house,” Tsoto said. “But one day my mom said no … You have to cook first before you can ask someone to cook for you.”
So, Tsoto entered the world of cuisine. He loved crepes back home, so he learned how to make them. Then he took his skills to a higher level.
“My mom, she was a chef, too, back in Africa, in Togo. It’s a French colony, so we eat French food,” he said. “I went to a French gastronomic school where I learned everything.”
He eventually arrived in the United States about nine years ago after studying in France. Tsoto met a French chef in the U.S. and worked for him for about seven years and gained more experience before deciding to work for himself. He has dreams of one day operating a food truck and expanding his menu. Then he hopes to open a restaurant.
“I just don’t want go and make crepes to make money,” he said. “I’m most happy when I make people happy, too. This makes me go (to the Farmer’s Market) each week. … I love what I’m doing.”
Visit the Crepelicious San Diego booth in the Scripps Ranch Farmer’s Market, held from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. each Thursday at 10045 Carroll Canyon Road.
