FORT KENT (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- They are thinner than a pancake but thicker than a crepe. They are ployes, a flatbread that comes down over the centuries from Acadians.
They are fat-free, cholesterol-free, lactose-free and sugar-free, but a bag of ploye mix costs $9 when you buy it from the Bouchard Family Farms in Fort Kent.
Bike Maine riders had ployes for breakfast Thursday before rolling west to Allagash where they were hosted by the Allagash Historical Society.
The riders had a number of questions about ployes, which most had never heard of much less eaten.
"We grow the buckwheat, dry it and mill it. So we do the whole nine yards," said Joe Bouchard, who grew up on the family farm which manufactures ployes and also has a small store.
Their latest kitchen concoction is a ploye ice cream sandwich.
Ployes are high in nutrition and low in calories. "One ploy has fewer calories than a slice of bread," Jan Bouchard points out.
Ployes might be served as a bread with stew or soup.
Ployes are cooked on a hot griddle and are so thin, they are cooked only on one side. The top surface bubbles forming "eyes" before the batter becomes solid. People joke that these eyes sop up more butter or whatever "jus" might be available.
Ployes can be served with butter and syrup or even strawberries and whipped cream.