Some people say that Flammkuchen was first invented because bakers used to put a thin bit of dough into the oven to test if the temperature were yet hot enough to bake bread. Eventually, bakers began to top the breads with simple ingredients that were easily accessible. To make this dish, you cook the dough at a super high heat and top it with whatever you like (though usually people stick to the traditional ingredients I listed.) Mine also had olives, cucumbers and tomatoes too!
Of course, Flammkuchen wouldn’t have been created if there weren’t so many bakers in this part of Europe. But this delicious food is also directly related to geography! Flammkuchen was first created in towns along the borders of Germany and France, which includes Trier. There’s a major battle going on between the two countries over who invented the Flammkuchen, because throughout history the borders between Germany and France have shifted a lot. Sometimes the land would belong to Germany, sometimes France. And since Flammkuchen was invented in this region, no one is quite sure which country is the true inventor of it!
