On our sign in rue des Tondeurs, two words often puzzle our guests: Crampous Mad. It's Breton, or almost. Here is a short tour of the Breton language around the crêpe, from the griddle to the final toast.
What does "Crampous Mad" mean?
Crampous Mad is a French-style spelling of the Breton expression krampouezh mat: "good crêpes".
- krampouezh means crêpes;
- mat means "good" (or "well"). Depending on the spelling system, you will also see it written mad: the pronunciation is the same.
So "Crampous" is not a Breton spelling but a French-style transcription, easier to read for French speakers. For the story of the restaurant, which opened in 1980, read the history of the Crampous Mad crêperie.
Krampouezh: one crêpe, many crêpes
In Breton, krampouezh is a collective noun: it refers to crêpes in general, a bit like "wheat" in English. To talk about a single crêpe, you add the suffix -enn: krampouezhenn. And "a crêpe" is ur grampouezhenn: after the article, the k turns into a g. This phenomenon, called mutation, is a feature of the Celtic languages.
The word is old: Middle Breton had it as crampoez, and it has cousins in the other Brittonic languages, Welsh crempog and Cornish crampeth.
As for the zh, it dates from the unification of Breton spelling in 1941. Depending on the area, it is pronounced more like z (or hardly at all), or h around Vannes: one spelling for several pronunciations.
A little Breton crêperie glossary
Our article Galette or crêpe: what's the difference? already covered a few basic words. Here is how to go further.
| Breton | English | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| krampouezh | crêpes | one crêpe: krampouezhenn |
| gwinizh | wheat | the flour of sweet crêpes |
| gwinizh-du | buckwheat | literally "black wheat" (du = black) |
| pillig / billig | the cast-iron griddle | billig is the mutated form: ar billig, "the griddle" |
| rozell | the wooden rake that spreads the batter | already rosell in Middle Breton |
| spanell | the spatula that flips the crêpe | wooden or metal |
| amann | butter | kouign-amann: "butter cake" |
| laezh-ribod | lait ribot (buttermilk) | laezh = milk, ribod = churn |
| sistr (or chistr) | cider | from Old French cistre |
| ti-krampouezh | crêperie | ti = house |
In French, you will see billig or bilig, and people say "le" or "la" billig: usage varies. In Breton the word is feminine, hence the mutation after the article.
And if Breton butter intrigues you, its story is in our article Salted butter caramel: a Breton story.
Galette or buckwheat crêpe?
In the east, in Upper Brittany, around Rennes and Nantes, the traditional language is Gallo, a Romance language related to French. That is where people say galette for the savoury buckwheat crêpe, the one used in the famous galette-saucisse.
In the west, in Lower Brittany, where Breton is still spoken, people rather say crêpe de blé noir (buckwheat crêpe). And in Breton, everything is krampouezh, whether made with wheat or buckwheat.
The boundary between the two languages has always been blurred, and words travel. Here in Mulhouse, our menu follows the Upper Brittany usage: buckwheat galettes on one side, wheat crêpes on the other.
A few words for the table
- Demat!: hello!
- Degemer mat!: welcome!
- Trugarez!: thank you!
- Yec'hed mat!: cheers! Literally "good health": the phrase for raising a glass, a bolée of cider in hand.
- Kenavo!: goodbye!
And at Crampous Mad?
No need to speak Breton to order, but feel free to try! Our buckwheat galettes and wheat crêpes are made one by one, to order. Start with a galette au beurre with lightly salted butter (€3.20) or a Complète (€10.50), finish with a Spéciale du Faouët with salted butter caramel (€6.60), all with a dry or sweet cider from the Val de Rance (€3.10 for 18 cl). Yec'hed mat!
Discover the full menu or book a table on 03 89 45 79 43, at 14 rue des Tondeurs, right in the centre of Mulhouse. Service all day from Tuesday to Saturday, from 11:30 am.