lemon verbena blueberry galette. Mexico City (aka DF) is beautiful, but lets just say that summer weather is not its forte. Because our seasons are divided into dry and rainy, which makes temperature fairly constant all year round (thank goodness!), in summer we pay the consequences and live through a few months of wetness and fairly chilly afternoons. Think torrential rains (I am not talking about the London drizzle, but rather the ‘you stand outside for a minute even with an umbrella and are soaked’ type of rain), hail (yups hail!), and the occasional thunderstorm. To be fair it can be pretty spectacular, and make for some great tardes chocolateras (direct translation: chocolate afternoons, aka stay in, hide under a blanket, watch a movie, and sip some Mexican hot chocolate).
So while you guys in America are all about your summer pies and galettes for picnics, I’m feeling them more for those cold ‘n wet afternoons. To be devoured with a glass of almond milk or a cuppa tea.
And such is the story of this lemon verbena blueberry galette. The result of bringing home 1kg (over 2 pounds!) of local organic blueberries back on Saturday from the market. Which the mother and I devoured pretty much in one go. Starting shyly slice by slice (with the excuse that it wasn’t going to be as good the next day…) and managed to take down three quarters of it in one sitting. So yes, it is that good. And you can easily manage that (good thing?), because of the freshness in flavors- both of the filling and of the crust.
The blueberries are nicely accentuated by the lemon verbena (known as cedrón here in Mexico), a nice tip I got at the market. And similarly, the lemon rind in the crust gives the whole thing even more of that kick (and makes eating just the crust rather delectable). In my book, baking with spices generally results in much more complex flavors, and (just as in cooking) can be adjusted to taste. So feel free to mock around to your taste buds desires.
